Fire & Desire
by XoShaee
Summary: Sky just wanted to spend time with her cousin Bella & uncle Charlie, but when Paul Lahote sees her he imprints instantly. Things become complicated as Sky attempts to navigate the imprint, and deal with not only the pursing of a vampire, but the fact that for the first time in her entire life she may have to stand against family as Bella stands with the Cullens.
1. Chapter 1

Schyleur looked down at the plate in front of her. Bella had filled it with a pasta and two garlic breads before sitting it on the table in front of her. She had tried to eat as much of it as possible. She didn't eat very much, but she didn't want to seem ungrateful for their hospitality. Bella was moving her food around the plate too. Charlie, on the other hand, had eaten everything and then sat back in his chair as if digesting for seconds. Schyleur was amazed. She appreciated her cousin Bella and uncle Charlie.

She was a military brat thanks to both of her parents and while she loved traveling she was a newly graduated senior and she wanted to go back to her mother's roots, sit out of school for a semester and find herself. She wanted to walk the very streets where her mother and father had fallen in love and she wanted to be a part of America. She loved being in Germany and God, did she love Korea, but that wasn't home. That wasn't where her roots were. She hadn't spent more than two weeks in Forks in years.

Her mother, Violet Swan Collins was the complete opposite of her younger brother, Charlie. Schyleur's mother was loud and demanding and she was a touchy-feely person that always said what was on her mind. It was the strangest thing in the world for Schyleur to look at her uncle and realize that he and her mother had been raised in the same home by the same people. Her mother had tattoos and could drink her father under the table. She cursed like a sailor in the privacy of their home and she was reckless when her uniform wasn't on. She supposed that was why her mother and father worked out. They were the same in that aspect, but their positives balanced out. Her mother was a math and science person while her father was more social studies and English. Her mother was great with numbers and her father words. They had a way of doing things that worked exclusively for their relationship.

They had met overseas and gotten married three months after meeting. That was the type of person Violet was. She gave birth to their son, Benjamin 'Jack' Collins 2 year later and birth to their daughter 5 years after him.

Schyleur was 19 now, Benjamin 24. Their son had followed in their footsteps. He'd gone off and enlisted in the reserves which had taken him to Hawaii and according to him, he loved it there. He skyped and facetimed often and he swore that he would visit his sister while she was in the states. The two of them were close. They always had been.

They could have been twins. They had both been given their father's Irish red hair and green eyes. They were both tall, but Schyleur was thinner partially because Benjamin was naturally bigger and partially because he worked out and had the guns to prove it. She was a small thing with absolute no hips to speak of, but almost enough cleavage to make up for it. She had a nose that turned up slightly at the tip, thinly plucked eyebrows and eyes that weren't set too close or too far apart. People thought that she was pretty. She wasn't a supermodel, but she was a little more noticeable than average she assumed. She had a total of 3 tattoos and 4 piercings. Her ears were both pierced twice. She had a small hoop in her nose and a stomach ring. They were things that her mother adored and her brother hated beyond measure. Her tattoos were all small and barely noticeable. She'd gotten compass on the front of her upper thigh. She had a koi fish and turtle both tattooed on her arm to begin the sleeve she had started with her brother on her 18th birthday.

Schyleur looked up and at her uncle Charlie as Bella joined them at the table. Schyleur thought that Bella was pretty. She looked ordinary and friendly and… pretty. She reminded Schyleur of the girl next door that always got the guy at the end of the movies.

"So," Charlie cleared his throat, "How's Jack?"

Schyleur picked up her fork.

"Good, uncle Charlie," she said instantly, "He thinks he's in love."

"In love, huh?"

"In love," she repeated.

Charlie scratched his beard and then looked at his daughter and then back at his niece.

"And what about your parents?"

"They're good. They should be retiring soon actually."

"That's good. Violet needs to be a civilian."

"When are you retiring uncle Charlie?"

Bella scoffed as she stood up. Schyleur smirked. Charlie grunted.

"I don't really know the answer to that."

"Never," Bella said picking up her plate and then Charlies.

Charlie mumbled something under his breath about protecting the town that he loved as Bella made her way to the kitchen sink and began to scrape their plates. Sky chuckled as she stood up herself and grabbed her plate.

"What are your plans?" Charlie crossed his arms over his chest and Sky could see it.

She could see him as the chief of police. He looked like he was preparing to interrogate her. He looked like he was about to pick apart her brain and wait for one little inconsistency to tear her to shreds.

"Plans?" Sky repeated as she headed to the sink.

Bella grabbed the plate in Schyleur's hand.

"I'll take care of it," Bella offered.

"Thank you," she handed it over and turned back around to face her uncle.

"Yeah," Charlie looked up at her, "Your mom mentioned something about volleyball."

"Oh! Yeah," Schyleur stepped out of Bella's way, "Well I finished high school a semester early so I'm going to take these next seven months with you guys and just decide what it is that I truly want to do with my life."

"So, no plan?" Charlie's eyebrow fumbled together.

Bella gave her cousin a look and a smile.

"Actually," Schyleur said proudly, "I have a volleyball scholarship and I've already been accepted in to three amazing schools. One is for liberal arts and professional writing, one is for psychology and addiction studies the other is for law."

"Law huh?" Charlie thought about.

"Just trying to keep the family job going," Schyleur stretched her arms above her head, "but hopefully being here will help me choose one over the other. I don't exactly have roots to return to so I'm hoping I can tap in to my mom's."

The house phone gave out a ring at the same instance that Charlie's cell phone did.

"I'm sorry," he hopped up and produced his phone as he headed to the living room.

Schyleur picked up the glasses that she, Bella and Charlie had discarded and walked them to the sink.

"Hello?" Bella leaned against the wall, "Yeah, everything was fine… I had to pick up my cousin from the airport. She flew in from Germany… No… No… Jake, she just got in today… I'll try to make it, but I'm not promising anything, okay?"

"Where are we going?" Sky hissed towards her cousin.

"One second Jake," Bella covered the mouthpiece of her phone and turned towards her cousin, "Jake was calling to invite us out to the reservation. He's together with some friends and they were wondering if we'd want to go to the beach."

"Yes," Schyleur said immediately, "Can we go? Please?"

Bella laughed and nodded before uncovering the phone.

"Jake, we're going to come out in the next thirty minutes or so if that's okay… Yes… I wouldn't dream of it… Okay… Bye," Bella hung up the phone.

"Dad!" Bella called as she turned back to the sink.

Charlie walked swiftly in to the kitchen shoving his phone in to his pocket as he came.

"I'm going in to work," he said suddenly, "Will you two…"

"We'll be perfectly fine, Uncle Charlie," Sky offered.

"We're actually going to the reservation to hang out with Jake and his friends."

Charile nodded at that.

"Be careful and make good decisions," he looked from one of them to the other and then headed out of the kitchen.

"Your dad is a little awkward," Schyleur observed taking up the rinsing of the dishes as Bella handed them to her.

"He isn't good with showing feelings," Bella offered, "But then again neither am I so we work."

"So… Are you and Jake a thing? Or..?"

"We are most definitely not. Jacob is like a brother to me and… I have a boyfriend."

"A boyfriend?"

"Yup."

"What's he like? Does uncle Charlie like him?"

"My dad isn't exactly his biggest fan, but Edward is…" she searched for a word, "traditional."

"So his name is Edward?"

"Edward Cullen," Bella nodded, "His father is the head doctor in Forks."

"Will I get to meet this Edward Cullen?"

"Eventually," Bella turned the water off.

"I'll take what I can get," Sky lined the dishes up in the drainer.

"So," Bella looked around the kitchen, "If you're ready we can head to the reservation."

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Schyleur clapped her hands together, "Jesus, Bella, I can't wait to meet your friends."

X

Sky looked up at the top of the cliff. She could see guys, 3 of them. She was sure they were all taller than her equipped with a permanent tan and shaggy black hair. She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at them. Bella had introduced her to Jake and then walked off on her own to quickly call that boyfriend of hers.

"So did you like Germany?" Jake asked her, his eyes also trained on the top of the cliff.

"It's beautiful there," she smirked, "but it's beautiful here too."

"Please," Jake scoffed, "La Push is hardly comparable to Germany."

"You only think that because you were born here," Schyleur slid her feet out of her shoes, "You're used to the beauty of La Push. You see it everyday," she stood up and stretched lazily, "It's the same thing with Germany. I saw it every single day. It was to me what La Push is to you," she looked out at the water before her.

It was clear and beautiful and she wanted to swim through it.

"That makes sense," Jake chuckled before tapping her shoulder and pointing upwards, "Look! You're going to miss it."

"Miss what?"

Sky looked towards where Jake had pointed and then paused. They were jumping, one after the other off of the top of the cliff. She was sure her eyes visibly widened.

"How are they…" her voice died off with the pure amazement.

She traveled. Her parents made sure that she went to other countries. They let her go off with her brother every time it was possible. She'd climbed a mountain or two and she'd swam in caves, but she had never cliff dived. She had to do it.

She watched in amusement as the guys one after another swam to the shore and they collectively walked over and up to Jacob. They were looking at her strangely and she immediately felt self conscious. She'd left her red hair free, but had changed in to a two-piece black bathing suit and thrown a flowy gray dress on top of it. She looked around for a cousin that she didn't see.

"This is Bella's cousin, Sky," Jake introduced her, "Sky this is," he pointed to them one after another, "Jared, Quil and Paul."

"Nice to meet you!" she smiled and waved happily.

"Nice to meet you too," Jared offered a hand and she shook it.

"Nice to meet you," Quil nodded in her direction, a large smile on his face.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Paul echoed, his eyes on something back towards the water, "Where is Bella anyway?"

"She went off to call Edward," Sky offered.

"Right," Paul scoffed as he faced them, "I'm sure she…" his words died in the air as blue eyes met brown ones and he paused, "did," he finished lamely, "What was your name again?"

"Schyleur?" she said it slowly.

"Right," he nodded and took a step closer, holding out a hand to Bella's cousin.

She took his hand in hers and she felt it- a spark that traveled up her spine. She paused and she starred up at Paul as he starred back down at her. Her heart had started to beat faster. She hadn't noticed how handsome he was from his side profile, but she could definitely see it now. He had to at least be 6'2 she thought. He had brown eyes and pitch black hair that rested messily on his head. He had a slight beach fuzz thing going on and a distinct nose that wasn't small or big, but it rested slightly crooked on his face. Sky licked her lips and then looked down to where their hands were still bound together.

"Are you going to let my hand go?" Schyleur laughed.

"No," Paul answered instantly.

Quil and Jared look at Jake. Jake looked from Paul to Schyleur.

"Shit," he cursed aloud and looked around the beach, "BELLA!"

 **A/N: I see my Schyleur as Sophie Turner and her brother as the guy that played Bill Weasley on Harry Potter except with his shorter hair and a sleeve of tattoos.**


	2. Chapter 2

When Bella returned, Jacob whispered something in to her ear and then the two of them all but dragged Schyleur away from the beach. Quil excused himself to make a call and Jared and Paul followed behind her.

Jake began to talk and then could not stop. He started to describe in great detail the set up of the reservation.

The rez was more or less shaped like a circle, with 10 different roads that were like lines branching off of it. Each road led to a house. Almost the entire tribe lived on the reservation according to Jake. Each home was two bedrooms, except for branches 1-3 which had 3 bedrooms customized for Billy, Sue and Old Quil. They had each had children that needed their own rooms. The typical two rooms were proving to be enough for everyone else though.

According to Jake- Sue, Seth and Leah lived on branch 3 while he and Billy lived on branch 2. Brach 1 belonged to Old Quil and young Quil and his mother, Joy. Paul lived on branch 5 with his father. Sam Uley, whoever that was, and his fiancé Emily lived on the 4th branch and that was where they said that they were headed. Jared stayed on the 6th branch where he'd taken Embry as a roommate. The last four branches were empty for when family members decided to move out of their parent's home.

Schyleur wasn't sure why Jacob suddenly seemed to have diarrhea of the mouth, but it was making her jumpy with the way he was acting all jumping.

He kept almost reaching out to her and then stopping himself. He was being awkward, very awkward and Bella was simply nodding along. It was strange and Sky knew strange when she was faced with it.

Jacob and Bella led her to Sam's home and paused outside.

"If Sam's fiancé Emily comes home, don't stare at her," Jake said casually, yanking open Sam's front door, "It makes him upset."

He walked Sky inside without knocking. Paul and Jared following in after her.

"You can sit at the table," Jacob offered, "I'll just run in to the back and talk to Sam really quickly. Right Bells?" Jake looked at her and then to Sky and then away at a cabinet and scratched the back of his neck.

"Yeah," Bella nodded far too overenthusiastic, "I'll come with you."

"Me too!" Jared said instantly, "We'll all go."

Jacob didn't say anything. He simply turned to rush through a doorway and slammed in to a man who paused and grunted.

"What the hell?!" he looked around the kitchen.

"Sam!" Bella clapped her hands together, "This is my cousin, Schyleur."

Sam looked around at all of them. He looked from Bella to Jake to Jared to Schyleur and then at Paul who was standing behind her chair, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Jake," Bella nudged him and then turned around quickly to go sit at the table across from her cousin.

"What do you guys want?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

Jared and Jake both turned to look at Paul who had pushed himself off of the wall and was now pacing the length of the kitchen.

"If one of you don't-" Sam paused as the door creaked open.

Sky was honestly impressed that literally no on the reservation knocked on this guy's door. It was Quil carrying four brown paper bags as a woman followed him inside. She was an extremely beautiful young woman, with exotic good looks, glossy black hair and satiny copper skin, as well as a melodic voice. She had three long scars on the right side of her face from hairline to her chin and they extend down her right arm to her hand. Sky kept her eyes on Sam after her initial look in their direction. She was waiting for someone to tell her why they'd dragged her from the beach to Sam's house.

Sam's grimace turned in to a smile at the sight of his new house guests. He walked across the kitchen and around Quil who was attempting to set the bags on the counter. Sam placed a long lingering kiss to the injured side of the woman's face before her lips.

"Hey guys," she smiled around the room, "Bella," she nodded towards her, "and…" she paused.

"This is Schyleur," Jake offered, "She's Bella's cousin. Sky this is Emily. She's Sam's fiancé," he smiled, "Oh! And that's Sam," he gestured towards him.

Sam rolled his eyes as Paul went off to help Quil put the groceries where they belonged.

"They barged in unannounced to tell me something," Sam explained to his fiancé, "but they haven't gotten around to it yet."

"Paul needs to talk to you," Jared said dryly.

Sam looked at Paul and then at Jake.

"Talk," he crossed his arms over his chest and side stepped out of Emily's way as she shook her head with a smile.

Sky got the idea that this happened sort of often.

"I wasn't feeling very well," Paul said, not turning around from his shelving.

"Do you want me to call someone?" Sam asked visibly getting more serious.

"No," Jared interrupted and then walked over to Paul and nudged him.

"I don't feel as bad when I'm here," Paul said simply.

"Okay?" Sam scratched the back of his head, "Do you want to stay here for the night?"

"Stop being a little girl," Jared growled at Paul who growled right back.

"Sam- what I mean is…" Paul took a deep breath and then turned around to lean against the kitchen cabinet.

"He doesn't feel bad because he's here with her," Jared gestured towards Sky.

Sam looked at Jared for a while and then at Paul. Quil whistled as he continued to save things. Jake crossed his arms over her chest. Bella looked down at her hands as they fidgeted in her lap. Paul became suddenly extremely interested in his feet. They were going to have to spell this out for them and by them Schyleur meant herself and Sam because one look at Emily and it was obvious that she understood. She was blushing and her mouth was in an almost perfect "o". Everyone stood in silence while Sam pondered Jared words. Paul didn't bother to elaborate.

It hit Sam all at once and he cursed.

"You mean he…" Sam looked around the room at the nodding boys, "On?" he looked at Schyleur.

"Can someone just tell me what the hell everyone is talking about?" she snapped.

They were irritating her. They were irritating her to no end and she was not going to be dragged to someone's home so that everyone could talk in codes around her. They could have simply left her where she was.

Sam took a deep breath and then scratched the back of his head.

"Outside," he decided, "All of you," he gestured to a door on the opposite side of the kitchen, "I'll answer all of your questions," he assured Sky, "but we have to start from the beginning."

Jake pulled out Bella's chair as Paul quickly crossed the kitchen and pulled out Schyleur's while Emily, Sam and Quil both watched in mild amusement.

"What?" he growled at them.

Sam scoffed.

"Outside," he repeated.

The guys filed outside, Schyleur taking up the rear with Paul behind her. He was behind her a lot she noted.

When they got outside Paul closed the house door tightly before jumping off of the side of the four steps so that he wouldn't have to force his way between Schyleur and Bella who sat on the steps without instruction. Bella had done it first so Schyleur had simply followed suit. Jared, Paul and Quil both plopped themselves on the ground, stretching their legs out in front of them.

"So," Sam cleared his throat, "My ancestors were the descendants of wolves," he started, "Apparently, the wolves were our natural protectors when we settled in La Push. They would wander through the settlement and everyone would let them. It became natural for them to be seen wandering the streets or laying in front of someone's mailbox. They were a fixture in our history. According to legend the Quileute tribe settled in La Push and became efficient fishermen and shipbuilders. As time passed, other peoples coveted their land and moved against them for it," Sam paused, "Damn it. Billy is better at this. Why didn't you take her to Billy?"

"He's not home. Sue took him shopping or something," Jake offered, "Trust me, Bella and I thought of him first."

"Thanks," Sam rolled his eyes.

"You're doing great," Jared offered, "Keep going."

Sam cleared his throat again.

"The tribe was small and could not defend themselves," he started again, "so their friends, the wolves, used the magic in their blood to defend it. The wolves became family and our people began feeding them and allowing them inside their homes and the Quileute and wolves lived in harmony for many years. Then, one day the chief at the time, Taha Aki, died and was not taken in to either heaven or hell. He simply walked the Earth, watching his people," Sam paused again.

"I can take over," Jake offered.

"Go for it," Sam looked around at the eyes tearing in to him.

"The great wolf that followed him in life followed him in death as well," Jake began, "because the wolves were able to see beyond what our ancestors could. Well, Taha Aki felt jealous of the animal because it could walk the world. So, he asked if he could share the wolf's body with him and the wolf complied. So, as a single being, the wolf and the man went to the village," Jake's voice started to get more excited, "Taha Aki had single handedly changed the entire future of our tribe!" he boasted, "From then on he was known as the Great Wolf."

"Or the Spirit Man," Quil added.

"Yeah," Jake nodded, "And he led the tribe for many years and fathered many sons, who in time found that they too could turn into wolves on reaching manhood. However, they were all different because the wolf form reflected the spirit of the man. Eventually Taha Aki died and when he did for some odd reason, his successors couldn't tap in to their wolf side anymore. The only time that they could switch between their two forms was when there was danger approaching," Jake bowed dramatically at the finishing of his story.

Sam and Paul collectively rolled their eyes. Sky looked around at the guys around her. She still could not understand what was so secretive about that. She watched Bella set a hand on her leg.

"A demonstration Jake," Sam took three steps away from him.

"Why do I have to demonstrate?" he whined.

"Because Quil and Jared have imprint knowledge and Paul," Sam paused, "Obvious reasons."

Jacob sighed and looked around before shaking his hands, taking a deep breath and shifting in to a giant wolf right before Schyleur's very eyes.

She was sure her breathing had stopped. She was sure that she was losing her mind. She was sure that she was going crazy.

X

Paul was worried. His imprint looked like she was hyperventilating. She stood up abruptly and turned her back to them. She took some quick shallow breaths and Bella stood up. Paul followed suit. She was panicking. She was afraid. She was afraid of them. Damn it. She was afraid of him. He made a move towards her and felt a hand on each of his shoulders. He knew it was Jared without turning around. Jared was the only person stupid enough to touch him when his emotions were running high, besides Leah of course.

Leah, Jared and Paul were the three dysfunctional amigos. Jared and Paul had been the first two to phase into the pack after Sam so there was a time when they'd only had each other to figure stuff out. Jared could tell how agitated Paul was without having to ask. They'd spent enough hours just patrolling the two of them before the pack had been big enough for only three hour shifts. Jared was one of the few people that didn't make Paul want to kill them. Naturally when Leah and Paul had begun to bond, she had lowered her distaste in Jared.

Paul and Leah had just sort of gravitated towards each other after she'd shifted. It was nice having her around. They were both known for being hostile so while the rest of the pack was always civil and even joked around with them when everyone was together, they weren't exactly inviting the two of them to hang out off of the reservation. Sure, the two of them may have actually been hostile, but it wasn't with no reason. Paul was the way he was because it was required. People followed who they loved or who they feared. It was easier for him to scare them in to submission than it was to watch out for all of their little toes and Leah was the way she was because as the first girl that had shifted in Quileute history, people were constantly doubting her. They were either doubting her abilities because she was a girl or making jokes about her being a girl wolf. It wasn't funny. It was a curse, not a pun. Leah was hostile because she didn't want anyone in the pack to feel like she was either soft or needed their help because she wasn't and she didn't. She was a warrior just like everyone else. She prided herself on that.

Leah and Paul were also both Sam's betas. That meant that they were normally helping each other help Sam. Their relationship had gone from fellow betas to dear friends in a few weeks max and Paul cherished her friendship.

Paul stood completely still as he watched Bella whisper to Schyleur.

"Sam," Bella called over her shoulder, "Can the two of us use your bathroom?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam nodded, "Sure."

"Thanks."

Bella pulled open the door and followed Sky quickly inside. Everyone looked to Paul whose eyes were still trained on the closed door. Jake hadn't phased out and was instead laying on his stomach simply looking at them.

"Paul imprinted," Sam said to no in particular.

"That makes 4 of us," Quil said quietly.

"I'm taking bets on Embry being next," Jared offered.

"I've got $10 on it being Jake," Quil countered.

His wolf whined.

"$10 on Leah," Paul ripped his gaze away from the door.

"Leah?" Jared checked, "You're sure about that?"

"Positive," Paul nodded.

"You want in on this?" Jared cast a look back at Sam.

"No," he said gruffly, "You're all idiots."

"So," Quil hopped to his feet, "How do you feel, Paul?"

"About?" he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh please," Jared scoffed, "You know damn well what."

"I never thought that I would imprint," he said simply.

"Well," Jared threw an arm over his friend's shoulder, "Imprinting isn't horrible," Jared offered "It may affect the people around you in a negative way sometimes, but it's one of the best feelings in the world for you personally. It makes you stronger and happier. You just gain so much life and you have so much to fight for."

"And you can use the happy," Sam interrupted.

"Yeah, you can," Quil laughed.

Paul growled.

"Don't worry about all the broken heart you'll leave around town by keeping your manhood in your shorts, Lahote," Sam chuckled.

"Yeah," Jared agreed, "because it'll be worth it in the long run. Even if some random girls aren't happy, that's not your problem," Jared said, "Your imprint is. People have bad break ups every day. People don't find their soulmate every day. You stand with Sky above all else now. Imprint trumps pack every time. It's not normal, but it's instinct. You're not making decisions that affect you. You're making decisions that affect the both of you."

"It's that bad, huh?" Paul checked.

"I guess so," Jared chuckled, "but it's worth it to go home to Kim every night. She made me a better person and wolf and Sky's going to do the same for you. I mean soul mate doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It's like every other relationship. It takes work, but your love for her will win out every single time."

That was exactly what Paul was afraid of that he would fall prey to imprinting and become a different person. He didn't want to change. If this person was supposed to be his soulmate he shouldn't have had to. Who he was already should have been good enough. He wasn't going to get dragged by the balls by some chick that he didn't even know.

Paul collapsed on to the ground and simply sat there. Quil and Jared each crouched in front of him.

"It'll work out," Jared offered.

"She hasn't even gotten to the imprint part yet and she's already freaking out," Paul scoffed, "She can always reject the imprint. And then what Casanova?"

"And then we figure it out," Sam said gruffly, "She hasn't made a decision."

"Yeah," Quil shrugged, "Maybe she's good with weird ya'know- like Bella."

Jared scoffed. Paul cringed. The last thing he needed was another Isabella running around the reservation.

"Right," he said dryly.

All of their eyes turned to the door as they heard the footsteps in the house getting closer. Paul hopped to his feet as the back door flew open and Schyleur walked out immediately drawing him in. God. She was his own personal siren. She could lead him to his death at any moment and he would be okay with that as long as they were together. He began to grind his teeth together. Pathetic.


	3. Chapter 3

Paul had to admit, Schyleur was good with weird like Bella. She wasn't as good as Bella. She was still freaked out by the entire thing, but that was to be expected. She sat on the top stair, her knees pulled to her chest and she listened.

She listened to Sam rattle on and on about what exactly an imprint was. She listened to Quil explain why they imprinted and what the entire point was. She listened to Jared highlight all the great things that had come from him imprinting. She soaked it in. She took all of it in stride while everyone attempted to take her in and gage her reaction.

She genuinely did not have one.

She wasn't sure what she was thinking. She wasn't sure how she felt. She had questions. She had so many questions.

She wasn't sure how she could just be magically chosen by some guy's dead ancestors to be his perfect mate. So now what? She was supposed to drop out of college before she'd started to live on the reservation with this guy she'd known for all of 20 minutes. Was she supposed to just suddenly become his girlfriend and live happily ever after with him? That wasn't how things worked. That wasn't how life worked. She had a life. She had goals and dreams and a volleyball scholarship and family that were nowhere near the damn reservation.

She looked around. Paul was sat on the ground starring at her. Jacob was still laid on his stomach looking around at the lot of them. Quil sat on the ground beside him. Jared and Sam stood beside Jake trying to think of how to help Paul. Both Kim and Emily had taken the shifter thing pretty well. Jake looked at Bella and whined softly.

Paul decided he may as well be the one to ask the Earth shattering question.

"So how do you feel?" his question was asked slowly, hesitant.

"I," Schyleur paused and looked at her cousin who was still sitting beside her, a hand in hers, "I don't know," she admitted, "What am I supposed to do?"

She looked at her maroon polished nails, as Bella's fingers flexed in her grasp.

"Nothing," Sam said seriously, "When you imprint it's to make your mate stronger. The ancestors saw you fit for Paul just the way you are. There's nothing for you to do or change about yourself."

Sky nodded at that, her eyes still on her and Bella's hand.

"Imprinting isn't sexual, Sky," Quil said genuinely, "My imprint is a child, literally… and the highlight of my day is babysitting her. I adore the ground that little girl walks on," he shrugged, "Being an imprint doesn't mean that you're forced in to anything."

Sky tried to wrap my head around that, that imprinting literally could happen at any time to any wolf with any person no matter the age.

"When Jake explained it to me," Bella ran her thumb over her cousin's hand, "He told me that it's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like… gravity moves… suddenly. It's not the earth holding you here anymore, she does… You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend, or a brother."

"That's true!" Quil agreed "So there's no pressure on you to be with Paul romantically or anything. He would be fine if you were just his friend."

"Just…" Sky looked up and around at the different faces around her, "his friend."

Paul nodded once, his face still a mask of no emotion. Sky nodded then.

"I can do that," she said finally, "I mean I was going to be friends with all of you anyway since you're Bella's friends and I'll be here for so long."

"There," Bella laid her head on her cousin's shoulder "So, just start from scratch. You two can introduce yourselves and then just be friends and get to know each other. If it develops in to more then okay."

"And if it doesn't," Sam inserted, "That's okay too."

Paul hopped to his feet.

"Anything you want to add?" Sam asked.

Paul took a deep breath and shook his head side to side. Jake stood up and stretched.

"Is Jake going to stay a giant dog?" Schyleur asked seriously.

"Wolf," Paul corrected automatically.

"Jake definitely looks like a cute little lap dog," Sky released her cousin's hand and stood up.

"We're the descendants of wolves, not domesticated lap dogs."

"Are you offended?" she asked simply walking down the four stairs and towards Jake.

She would probably never see anything like this before. She just wanted to take a closer look at him.

"No," Paul said dryly, "I was informing you."

"But aren't you all domesticated anyway?" she paused and looked at Sam, "May I?" she held a hand up.

Sam nodded and she took another step forward. Jake lowered his head and Sky placed her hand slowly atop of it. She ran her fingers through his fur. It was think and soft

When she paused Jake lifted his head and she saw it. She saw him shining through. He had his human eyes. In simple, she was amazed. She had been in Forks for all of a day and she would already look at the world the same again. Sky took a step back and Jake turned around and dashed in to the trees. She looked around at the eyes that were on her.

"And you all can do that?"

"Yup," Quil crossed his arms over his chest, "We're a pack."

"Of… how many?"

Jared counted in his head.

"10."

"10?!" she repeated turning around to face the circle.

"Yeah," Quil nodded, "Me, Jared, Paul, Jake, Leah, Embry, Seth, Collin and Brady."

"So the guys I met earlier?"

"Are all shifters," Sam nodded.

"And you're the alpha?" she pointed at him.

"Yeah," he nodded, "until Jake wants to take over. It's his destiny."

Sky paused when the guys collectively turned to look towards the trees. She spun around just in time to see Jake walking out, buttoning some jean shorts as he went.

"I couldn't stay like that much longer," he chuckled.

"Because you, of course, have an opinion," Paul grumbled.

Sky looked from Jake to Paul. Jake ignored him fully.

"Anyway, Sky," he closed in on her and threw an arm around her shoulders triggering a low growl from somewhere deep in Paul's throat.

Sky stiffened. His pack looked at him and Paul took a deep breath and towards Isabella so that he wouldn't have to face them.

"Well," Jake let his arm fall from her shoulders, "We were all going to get together at Sue's and watch a movie or something if you wanted to come," he offered.

"Actually," Bella stood up, "I have a project due Monday and Edward was going to help me get it done tonight."

"I'll take care of her," Jake assured her.

Bella looked at Sky, standing there.

"We'll talk about it while we walk back to the beach to get her car."

"Okay," Jake nodded at that.

"Thanks for the explanation and everything. I'm sorry that we intruded, Sam," Bella said softly.

Sam nodded.

"Stay out of trouble, Bella."

He gave her a meaningful look that Bella turned her head away from.

"Ready?" she offered a smile to her cousin who nodded.

"It was nice to meet you all," Sky said simply offering a small wave.

She walked quickly over to Bella who took her arm and started to lead her around the house instead of through it. Paul grabbed Sky's arm from Bella before she could walk past him and he pulled her in to him quickly. It was a swift exchange just so that he could get one good sniff of her scent… for future reference he assured himself. Sky didn't have time to process the exchange let alone hug him back before he released her and turned on his heels, walking swiftly away and in to Sam's house.

Sky looked around at the other pack members. Jared and Sam were looking at each other, talking without talking and Jake and Quil were smiling at her. Sky blinked a few times and then turned back towards Bella and started back around the house and towards the center of the reservation.

Schyleur was quiet the entire walk to the car and when they got inside, she didn't start the car, not at all. She stuck the keys in the ignition, took a deep breath and then turned to look at her cousin.

"What the hell just happened?" she asked finally.

Bella shrugged.

"Shifters are real!" Sky said gripping on to her steering wheel, "Jacob Black turned in to a giant wolf in front of me and then this guy, Paul, he- he imprinted on me and imprinting is being pulled to me as if by gravity and- and- and," Sky paused and took a few breaths, "Bella," she let her head fall on to her stirring wheel, "What do I do?"

"I- I don't think I've ever seen you scared of anything," Bella admitted, looking out of the front window, "You've always been the fearless one and I don't think that you should be afraid. You're an amazing woman and Paul is a guy like any other guy. Either the two of you will be compatible or not. It's like any other relationship. Slapping the word 'imprint' on it doesn't change anything and you shouldn't be scared of getting to know anyone," Bella sighed, "Being in love is an amazing feeling."

Sky turned her head to look at her cousin.

"You're in love with Edward," it was a statement not a question.

Bella put her head down slightly so that her brown hair could hide her face.

"We love each other," she said quietly.

Sky nodded at that. She was happy that her younger cousin was happy. She was in no way, a stranger to dating. Hell, she wasn't even exactly a stranger to sex. She wasn't promiscuous but she had slept with more than one person. The number was less than 5, but she still considered herself educated on the matter. She wasn't normally shy. She wasn't normally timid. She was normally louder and forward. She wasn't the way today. She wasn't sure if it was because she was overwhelmed or if it was because Paul made her nervous.

"I'm happy for you," Sky said finally.

"And I'm happy for you," Bella said softly, "Jake used to try to make himself imprint on me," she admitted, "but it never happened," Bella took a deep breath, "Paul doesn't like me very much and I promise I'm not his biggest fan either, but maybe this really will help you grow. Maybe you'll find that clarity you were looking for."

"Maybe," Sky sat up.

"You don't have to do anything that you don't want to do," Bella reminded, "ever."

"Okay," Sky ran one of her fingers over her steering wheel and then another, "What if I don't want to be an imprint?" she asked quietly.

"They've never had it happen," Bella admitted, "Emily was fine and Claire is a part of Emily's family so they were pretty understanding and Kim loved Jared long before the imprint. Jake said that it causes them pain physically and mentally. Sam says that he wanted to kill himself," Bella realized what she'd said, "But that was because Emily wanted absolutely nothing to do with him," she tried to clarify, "It had nothing to do with romantic interest."

Sky knew that Bella was trying to help her. She knew that Bella was attempting to sedate her, but she wasn't doing a very good job. Schyleur took a deep breath and she made a decision. She would try to be Paul's friend. That was it. If I friendship would keep away suicidal thoughts, then she owed that to him, not even as an imprint, but as a human being. She would never wish that sort of emotional and mental pain on anyone and like she'd said before, she would have tried to be friends with the lot of them anyway.

"Bella, I think I'm going to attend the movie night with Jake."


	4. Chapter 4

Schyleur and Bella picked Jacob up before retreating to Bella's house. Charlie had yet to return home. They left Jake in the living room and rushed up the stairs together. Charlie had given Sky full permission to turn their guest room into her personal room. It already housed a bed, dresser and desk. The issue lied in the fact that boxes, papers and stray furniture pieces were scattered through the place. Charlie had apologized and said that he and Bella didn't get many guests. Sky understood that. She'd cleaned off the bed and a path from the door to the bed and hadn't gotten around to taking care of the rest. She would do it on her own eventually. She knew that her Uncle Charlie had a life and a demanding job. She didn't need him to clean for her. She'd get to it… She just hadn't. That was why her clothes and boxes were housed in Bella's room. The guest room couldn't handle any more clutter.

Schyleur threw her suitcase on to Bella's bed. Bella went to her closet to collect her back pack. They were comfortable together. Bella was the closest thing to a sister Sky had and the same was true for Bella.

Sky pulled her dress over her head and shoved it in to her suitcase.

"You have tattoos," Bella threw her bag on to the bed beside her cousin's suitcase.

"Yeah," Sky smiled over her shoulder at her cousin, "I like ink. I want a lot more actually," she turned back to her bag and grabbed some black shorts.

She slid them on.

"I wish I had the courage to get tattoos," Bella unzipped her back pack, "but I'm sure Charlie would lose his mind."

Sky laughed at that as she freed a plain gray shirt from her suitcase.

"Maybe," she threw the shirt on, "but once you go to college one itty bitty tattoo won't matter."

Bella chuckled as Sky pulled free some socks and she walked over to her desk to grab two textbooks.

"Our parents are nothing alike," Bella reminded, crossing the room and beginning to shove books in to her bag.

"True," Sky collapsed on the bed and began to put her socks on, "Have a good night tonight with your boyfriend," she added as an after thought.

"Thanks," Bella shoved her things deeper in to her backpack, "Have a good night with the pack."

"They literally call themselves 'the pack'?" Sky rummaged through her suitcase to find her makeup bag.

"Yup," Bella checked her cell phone.

"And no one notices?" Sky unzipped her makeup bag and produced a ponytail holder quickly throwing her hair up in to a messy bun.

"They don't roam very far from the reservation," Bella admitted.

"Hm," Sky collected a makeup wipe and began to wipe her face clear.

All she'd done was eyeliner and base but she was still ready for it to be off of her face.

She went to work scrubbing at it as Bella tied her own hair back.

"Edward is outside," Bella bounced on the balls of her feet.

Sky threw her used wipe in to her makeup bag and then hastily shoved it in to her suitcase. The doorbell let out a ring as Sky rushed to Bella's closet and heaved her feet in to her black tennis shoes as Bella attempted to dig in the closet around her. Sky rushed past Bella as the doorbell let out another ring. She flew down the stairs taking two at a time and halfway ran to the door, reaching it at the same time as Jake, who moved out of her way so that she could yank the door open.

Sky paused and took in the man in front of her. He wasn't real. He was eerily handsome and Sky didn't find that attractive. She wasn't sure how he had physically no facial flaws. His face was bizarrely symmetrical and his skin was unearthly with how pale it was. How had he managed to get high cheekbones, full lips, perfect eyebrows, a straight nose and a strong jawline? His hair was untidy and a strange bronze color that could have almost matched his eyes. His gaze made her skin crawl. Her smile had automatically faltered and she took a step back.

"Jake?" she said softly.

"I'm behind you," she heard him to her right.

"You're Edward?" Sky asked carefully.

"Yes," he nodded with a smile, "Edward Cullen. It's nice to meet you," he extended his hand to her, "You're Schyleur right?"

"Yes," she said shortly, "Schyelur Collins," she shook his hand quickly, "Bella is on her way down."

"Okay," Edward looked past her, "Jacob," he nodded once.

"Edward," came Jake's short response.

Sky noted that Edward was cold. His skin was hard. It didn't feel like skin. It felt like tile- no marble. That was it. He felt like an old marble statue and he looked like one too.

"Bella!" Sky called, "Jake and I are leaving!" she turned around and grabbed her keys from the nearby hook, "Nice meeting you Edward," she said with a small smile, "Be on your best behavior!" she yelled loud enough for her younger cousin to hear, "and don't have her out too late," she nudged Edward and then brushed quickly past him and towards her truck.

She knew that Jake was behind her without having to look.

"You drive," she threw the keys over her head and he caught them easily.

Sky made her way to the passenger's seat and let herself in, quickly putting on her seatbelt. Jake followed suit and started her vehicle.

"Jake," she turned her head towards him and then paused when Jake put a finger to his lips.

He put the truck in reverse and started to back out.

Sky looked back and saw Edward still standing outside of the Swan house, looking at her truck as it drove down the road.

X

Jake didn't say anything and Sky simply stared out the window. She couldn't even bring herself to put on the radio.

When Jake turned on a piece of land that she was sure was a part of the reservation, her heart did little flips and she was sure that she felt this way because she was away from him- Edward.

Jake parked Sky's truck, killed the engine and then turned towards her.

"Jake," she started again, "That guy isn't normal! He was cold- freezing cold and his face. How is it even possible to have a face that symmetrical? And- And- he's pale. He's too pale. He's that pale and you can't see any of his vains, at all. Not in his neck or his inner arm. Trust me, I looked. And- And-" she paused as she realized that Jake was simply looking at her, "You think I'm crazy don't you?" she sighed and turned away from him, letting her head fall back against the seat.

"You're talking to the giant domesticated dog boy," Jake scoffed, "I feel like you may be on to something."

"He made my skin crawl. It was like… It was like…" Sky paused and turned to Jake, "This one time when I was 11 my brother and dad took me to this huge animal exhibit. It was extremely hands on and there was this tank. It was amazing. And there were sharks, some of the biggest sharks I'd ever seen and one looked at me and everything in me fell to my feet I was so afraid. I felt like… I felt like," Sky looked down at her shaking hands, "I was more scared then I'd ever been and then that shark swam in to the wall of his housing. He hit it with his head so hard I thought my soul had left my body," she clenched her hands together, "Standing in front of Edward was like standing in front of that shark. I- I felt like I was being hunted."

She looked up at Jake and set her hands in her lap.

"You're not crazy," he said simply, "but Bella will be fine and she'll tell you all about Edward's strange family history soon," he pushed the truck door open, "I don't want to take that from her," he slammed the door and ran around the truck and to the passenger's door that he yanked open, "Just push it off for right now. You're among friends. You're among people that will protect you with their last breaths. There's nothing to fear on the reservation," Jake assured her, "We've got you."

Sky nodded at that and took a deep breath before hopping out of her truck.

Jake hugged her quickly and then nodded his head towards the house before starting to the front door. Sky fell in line and followed him upstairs and inside of the house. It was a bustle of activity. There were guys everywhere. It was loud. That was a given. Shirtless Quileute boys were clapping each other on the back and eating while laughing loudly.

"Sky this is Embry, Seth, Collin and Brady and you already met Quil," he pointed to them in turn as he led her through the crowded kitchen and in to the living room, "This is Sue Clearwater," Jake gestured to a lady that was picking up drinks and setting coasters beneath them, "Sue, this is Schyleur. She's Charlie's niece."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Clearwater."

"Please," she waved a hand towards her, "Just call me Sue," she stood up straight and walked over giving her a quick hug, "Any family of Charlie is family to us. Billy would lose his mind if it were any other way," a crash sounded in the kitchen that caused Sue's face to contort in anger, "Make yourself at home, sweetheart," she walked around Sky, "Collin and Brady so help me!" she yelled.

Sky chuckled as she heard one of them yell that it was Quil.

"I can get you something to eat or drink if you want," Jake offered.

"No thanks, Jake. I'm fine. I'll just longue on the couch until the movie starts."

"Smart," Jake hit her lightly on the back, "Secure a place to sit before everyone else comes."

Sky shook her head at that, but made her way to the sofa and sat in a corner of the couch.

She looked around the living room. She was seated on a couch that could comfortably hold four people. There were two recliners in the room, one on each side of the living room. There was a nice amount of games and books in the entertainment center. She tried to take everything in. Her parents would be proud. They liked for her to be aware of her surroundings. She was looking at what looked like a back door when she paused and her stomach felt like there was a knot in it.

X

Paul was aware of Sky being in Sue's house before he fully entered it himself. He walked in with Leah right behind him and ignored the way Quil and Jake were looking at him. They had just been relieved by Jared and Sam for patrol. The pack had been watching the reservation full time since they'd caught wind of a few vampires earlier in the month.

Paul walked over to the kitchen cabinet around Brady and Quil and grabbed a paper plate to pile four slices of pizza on to it. He chomped down on one as Leah all but bumped Seth out of the way so that she could get a water bottle from the fridge.

"Hey," she dryly greeted the room.

Stray greetings were echoed back to her from mouths full of food or in between laughs.

"Since everyone is here, go in to the living room," Sue instructed, "So I can start to take care of all of," she gestured around the kitchen, "this."

"I'll take care of it later, mom," Seth offered, "I promise," he shot Quil a look.

"Yeah," Quil nodded, "And I'll stay and help."

"Well thank you boys," she waved them off, "but just get out of my kitchen."

"As you wish," Jake laughed pouring a bag of popcorn in to a large plastic bowl. He had three already lined up on the counter.

Jake handed bowls of popcorn to Brady, Leah, and Quil keeping his to himself. Paul dug through the fridge for a bottle of water as everyone filed out and grabbed Leah's arm before she could leave.

"This is Sky," he heard Jake introduce her, "She's pack."

Leah looked at where Paul's hand was closed around her wrist and then up and at his face before yanking it away.

"Can we have the kitchen for 5 minutes, Sue?" Paul's eyes never left Leah.

"Uh… sure," Sue cast a look at the duo before her, before wiping her hands on a towel and scudding out.

Leah raised an eyebrow.

"There's a girl in your living room," Paul whispered, "She's an imprint."

"An imprint?" Leah said it slowly.

She walked in a little closer to Paul so that she wouldn't have to talk loudly.

"Did Jake?"

"No," Paul pushed the fridge shut.

"God, did Seth-"

"No," Paul walked around her and picked up his plate, "And Brady and Collin didn't either."

"That just leaves," Leah paused and thought quickly, "Embry."

"And me."

"You didn't?!" her voice hitched.

"I did," he took a deep breath.

"You little shit!" she put her popcorn bowl under one arm and punched him in the chest with the other hand, "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Well…" Paul picked a piece of beef off of his pizza slice.

"Don't ever feel sorry for me, Lahote," she growled.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he looked up at her, "You should consider yourself lucky."

"Yeah, of course," she twisted the top off of her water, "It's amazing to be the last person in our trio to not have an imprint," she rolled her eyes, "not that I want one!" she clarified, "I just thought we'd always be single together."

Paul genuinely chuckled at that.

"Yeah," he sighed, "me too."

""It can be a good thing," she offered, "I-," she paused and looked over her shoulder and then back at him, "Paul what are you going to do?" she laughed a small, forced laugh.

"I don't fucking know," he admitted.

"Well, do you like her?"

"I don't know," he hissed, "I like her, but I don't know if I like her because we're compatible or if the imprint is making me like her."

Leah took a deep breath.

"This is so fucked up," she admitted.

"I know."

"Well it's not like you were engaged to be married or anything. You were being wild and besides Sam, the other imprints do seem to have more positive effects on their mates then negatives."

"You had to throw in the besides Sam didn't you?" Paul teased.

"I'm done talking about this with you," she hit Paul in the stomach hard enough for him to hunch over and she grabbed a slice of his pizza, "figure it out on your own, idiot!" she took a bite as she walked towards the living room, grabbing her water bottle on the way.

Paul scratched his head and took a deep breath before following after her and in to the living room. Leah had laid herself out in a recliner while Seth had taken up the other one. Brady and Collin were laying on their stomachs between the television and couch where Sky and Embry were, Jake wedged between them. Embry had made himself comfortable between the couch and Seth's recliner in a bean bag chair, the other one discarded in front of her… his imprint. Paul resisted the urge to tell Jake what he really thought about that. He knew it had to be Jake that had thrown it down in front of her. He was setting Paul up and Paul knew it.

He didn't want to make a scene. The last thing he needed was for her to feel even more uncomfortable especially if she was his perfect mate and he'd end up stuck with her for the rest of his miserable life. He took her in quickly so that he wouldn't look like he was starring. Her red hair was thrown up in a bun, stray strands of hair caressing her face. She had one leg pulled beneath her and Paul noticed the tattoo that rested on her thigh. He could also see a tattoo peaking beneath the sleeve of her shirt. He didn't say a word. He walked over and plopped down right in front of her, settling himself in to the bean bag chair.

Seth climbed to his feet. He was holding two movies in his hand and taking votes but Paul wasn't really worried about what they decided to watch. He was more worried about the strange scent that was lingering on his imprint. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

He wasn't sure what movie they decided on but Seth popped it in to the DVD player and cut the lights around the room off. Paul cast looks around. Brady and Collin were sharing a bowl of popcorn. Leah and Quil each had bowls of their own and Paul was sure Jake and Embry were sharing. He was pretty sure Sky wasn't eating. He wondered if she was hungry. He had never seen her eat anything. He inwardly rolled his eyes before grabbing his plate in one hand and holding it backwards over his head. He hit her elbow that rested on the arm rest and she looked down at the plate and then Paul.

Sky wordlessly grabbed a slice of pizza from it and Paul brought his plate back around to take a chunk out of his first slice. He had given a slice to Sky and Leah had taken one. There was no way he would be full off of two slices of pizza. He resisted the urge to sigh. He tried to focus on the movie anyway. It was an action movie. Paul thought that was best. Collin and Brady didn't need to watch horror and the last thing Leah needed was a romantic comedy. He tried to get in to the movie. He really did, but it was useless. He could feel her every time she adjusted the way she was sitting.

"Uhm… Paul," Sky whispered his name.

He leaned back to look at her and noticed the crust in her hand. He held his hand towards her.

"Oh. That wasn't what I meant," she flustered, "I uhm… I can't see. You're kind of tall."

He knew that despite her whispering a vast majority of the room had heard her.

"Give it here," he plucked the crust from her hand and dropped it in his plate, before turning his attention back to the television.

He moved further down the floor, allowing his back to lean backwards against the couch, his head against her folded legs.

"Thanks," she said softly.

"No problem," he unconsciously took a bite out of her crust.

X

Sky tried to focus on the movie and not the way Paul's hair was brushing against her leg. It was almost impossible. She was sure the girl in the recliner was giving her dirty looks and watching her and it was making her uncomfortable. She couldn't get over the way Bella's boyfriend made her feel. She couldn't get over the fact that all of the people in the room with her could shape shift in to giant wolves. She was very much not over the fact that everyone thought that she was meant to be the mate of one of them. None of that made sense to her. Her life wouldn't make sense for her entire stay in Forks. She kept chanting it to herself, but that wasn't making it any easier to swallow. She bit her lip in the dark and took a deep breath.

She had come back to Forks for change but this was a little much. She nudged Paul lightly with her knee and when he slid over a little to look back at her, she threw her legs from out of her and walked quickly out of the room, through the kitchen and outside and to her truck. She unlocked the door and grabbed a pack of cigarettes that she kept in the armrest. She dug out her lighter from the cup holder and quickly got a cigarette and lit it. She didn't smoke very much, maybe a pack every two/three months. She was in no way addicted. It was just something to do to calm her nerves. It was something that stopped her hands from shaking. She leaned her head forward on to her truck and took a few breaths before standing up and putting her cigarette back in her mouth. She spun around and leaned backwards against her truck. She just needed to breathe. That was it.

Her heart sped up when she saw Paul head out of the front door, still shirtless, no shoes on his feet. He jumped over the steps instead of walking down them and walked over, stopping arms length away from her.

"You okay?" he crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the sky.

"I'm overwhelmed," she admitted.

"With this imprint thing?"

"With everything. It was the imprint thing this morning and then I met Bella's boyfriend and he just seemed… off," she took a deep breath, "and then I was sure a movie would be fine but I felt like everyone was staring at us," she took a puff of her cigarette, "I don't know what they expected," Sky tilted her head back to look at the stars too.

"They were looking at me," Paul corrected.

"The girl was looking at me. That much, I am sure of and I don't think she likes me very much."

Paul scoffed.

"Leah isn't a fan of the whole imprint thing."

"I bet," Sky looked down and took another draft of her cigarette, "It isn't fair," Sky guessed, "to magically fall in love with someone you don't even know."

Paul shrugged and looked down at his imprint. He reached an arm out and grabbed her cigarette out of her hand. He dropped it to the ground and stepped on it.

"You should quit," he said dryly.

Sky looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"Smoking," he said simply, "You should quit."

"I didn't know that we were on the level where you could give me health advice, Lahote."

He shrugged.

"We probably aren't, Collins."

Sky chuckled and then dug her shoe in the dirt. They stood there in silence. Paul looked out towards the forest. Sky remained looking at her hole in the ground.

"What does imprinting feel like?" she asked finally.

Paul shrugged.

"No one would be upset if you went home," he said instead.

Sky nodded at that.

"I think that would be best right now."

"I'll ride with you."

"I don't need you to ride with me," Sky assured him.

"It wasn't a question or an offer," he closed in on her.

"So, you command me now?" she looked at him incredulously.

"I didn't tell you to do anything either," Paul took another step forward and Sky automatically stepped back hitting her truck and pausing, "I just told you what I was doing. I'm a grown adult that can do whatever I want."

"Of course you are," Sky rolled her eyes.

Paul took a final step. They were close, extremely close. Sky was sure her heart was beating loud enough for her to hear it. Paul reached a hand down. Sky breath hitched.

"Well, well."

Sky jerked her head to the left to look at a shirtless Jared and Sam. Jared was obviously the one that had spoken. Paul didn't seem to be backing up.

"What is this?" Jared asked, a teasing tone to his voice.

Paul's hand landed on Sky's hip and she was sure she was blushing. Everything happened quickly. One second she was focusing on breathing. The next moment, Paul had taken her cigarettes out of her short's pocket and backed away from her, turning to his packmates. He held the pack of cigarette firmly in his hand.

"Shut up." Paul growled.

Jared laughed.

"Well, goodnight Sky," Sam offered.

"Yeah, night," Jared echoed.

They both look at Paul for a few seconds before splitting up. Jared headed towards Sue's front door and Sam headed towards the direction of his home.

Sky watched Paul reach back and drop her cigarettes in his back pocket while she tried to gather the frazzled remains of her brain. Jake and Brady ran out of Sue's front door off towards the woods and Sky watched. She had felt every emotion she could think of today. She just needed to rest.

She yawned and Paul looked at her.

"Get in the truck, Collins."


	5. Chapter 5

Sky drove while Paul gazed out of the window. They didn't talk. They let Three Days Grace play between them and they were quiet in a comfortable silence, neither of them knowing what to say and both of them grateful that the other wasn't attempting to force awkward conversation. It wasn't as horrible an experience as Sky thought that it would be when it had first been presented to her.

When she parked, the both of them continued to sit in the truck. They both looked ahead and Sky let another yawn escape.

"So how are you and Bella related?" Paul asked finally.

"Her dad and my mom have the same father."

"So you share a grandpa?"

"Yup."

Paul nodded at that.

"Siblings?" he leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I have a brother named Benjamin."

"Benjamin?" he repeated it and scoffed.

"We call him Jack," Sky volunteered, "What about you?"

"I'm the only offspring," he sighed, "but I have the pack and they're like the idiot brothers I never wanted."

Sky smirked at that.

"You all seem close- like you have a system and a dynamic that works."

"For the most part," he acknowledged, "We're like a sports team. We're all one big entity but we still have our own groupings within it."

"I understand that." Sky leaned back and let one hand rise to land on her bun and she yanked it free.

It was too tight and she was more than thankful that she had left the movie night early. She dropped her ponytail holder in to the cup holder and then ran a hand though her hair.

"Why'd you move to Forks?" Paul asked suddenly.

"To find my roots," Sky admitted, one hand curling a stray stand of her hair as she looked out of her window, "I wanted to find myself or a purpose or a sign about where I wanted to go to college."

"College?" Paul scoffed.

"What?" she turned to look at him, "What's funny about that?"

"Nothing," he continued to look at Charlie's front door, "Nothing at all."

"Didn't you ever want to go to college?"

"Never," he answered immediately, "I don't do well with teachers or authority for that matter," he turned to look at her, "not that it matters anymore. I'm destined to remain on the reservation."

"Forever?" Sky sat up quickly.

Paul shrugged. Sky reached over and hit him in the arm. Paul looked down at the place her hand had contacted. She had touched him. The pack barely touched him.

"What?" he had meant it to sound intimidating.

It had come out like he was shocked. He actually was.

"How can you just shrug about that? Don't you want to travel? Or, I don't know move out of state and get married and have children."

"Sky," Paul shook his head as if chastising a child, "I was chosen to protect this land and that's what I'm going to do until I don't have to anymore," he looked back out of the window away from her, "or die," he added, "Whatever comes first."

"Paul-"

"And you're supposed to be this 'all perfect mate'," he made air quotations with his fingers, "I don't think I could move out of state and get married and have kids at this point anyway," he shrugged, "not that I care… I don't believe in marriage and I don't like kids."

"Oh."

Sky thought about that. Did that mean she couldn't go to college? If Paul couldn't leave the reservation.

"Don't feel bad for me," he turned back towards her.

"I'm not," she lied.

"You are," he rolled his eyes, "God," he pushed her truck door open, "We aren't doing this."

"Okay," she pushed her own door open and hopped out.

She took a deep breath and put a small smile on before turning around to slam her own door.

Sky didn't say a word. She locked her truck with her keys and then started towards the front door, Paul on her heels. She unlocked the door and then turned around to wish Paul a good night. She paused. He was close to her. Very close. She backed in to the door.

"You can't keep cornering me like this," she breathed.

Paul smirked down at her.

"You have freckles," he ignored her.

"Uhm," she unconsciously touched her nose, "Yes?"

"I never noticed that," he leaned closer to her and one of his fingers touched her skin right beneath her eye.

"I usually cover them with makeup," she admitted.

"Why?" he stood back up, towering over her.

"I- I don't know," Sky shrugged.

"Do I make you nervous?"

"Yes," she blustered and then blushed.

Paul chuckled. She hadn't seen him laugh much. She liked the view. He took a step back. He didn't know what to say to that. He normally prided himself on making people nervous, uncomfortable and scared, but hearing Sky say it made his stomach twist.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

"You can't keep cornering me," Sky repeated.

"My wolf likes the way you smell."

"Your… wolf?"

"Yeah, ya'know, the thing I share a body with. The elder asked to use the wolf's body. He didn't ask to have all of the wolf's traits and offer it nothing in return."

"So you," Sky looked down at her feet, "Can feel what it- he," she corrected herself, "Thinks and feels."

Paul raised an eyebrow at her. She looked confused and slightly worried. This wasn't a conversation to be had tonight. She was already overwhelmed.

"Give me your phone," he held his hand out and she obliged.

Paul typed his number in and handed it back.

"Now you have my number," he took two steps back, "Don't hesitate to use it if you get in trouble," he paused and scratched the back of his head, "I'll probably know if you're in trouble before you use it," he thought out loud, "but still," he turned to go and the paused, "Oh! And you need your oil changed."

"My oil?" Sky looked out at her truck, "Seriously?" she looked back to Paul, "How do you know?"

"It sounds different to the wolf ears," he shrugged and looked at her over his shoulder.

Sky sighed.

"Where do I get my oil changed?"

"If you drive out to the res tomorrow I'll take a look. And if I can't take care of it, Jake will."

Sky nodded at that and then paused. Paul headed towards the road again and Sky walked a little after him.

"Was my oil an excuse for you to see me tomorrow, Lahote?"

Paul paused and looked at his imprint over his shoulder.

"No," he said dryly, "but the last thing I need is you stranded on the side of the road, especially with the weird shit going on around here," he admitted, "We haven't had an imprint die yet and we don't know what happens when that happens," he turned his head back forward, "I'm not going to be the guinea pig."

Sky opened her mouth and then closed it again.

Paul jogged in to the darkness without waiting for her to respond.

Sky turned on her heels and headed back towards the front door. She let herself in to the empty house. There was no Charlie or Bella to speak of. She wasn't sure if that was an issue or a blessing. She walked quickly up the stairs, played music from her phone and filled a bath to the brim with bubbles before sinking in to it. The hot water was welcomed. She could feel her muscles relaxing. She wasn't sure how long she remained in the bath, but when she got out, she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, her towel wrapped around her, and stared at herself. She stared at her freckles and found herself with her hand touching the same place Paul had.

Sky took a deep breath, dressed, cleaned the bathroom and then collapsed in to bed. She hadn't realized how tired she was until her body had hit the sheets. She was asleep in seconds.

X

Paul let himself back in to Sue's place. Collin and Brady had gone, probably picked up by their parents. Quil and Embry were on patrol. Paul had that stupid schedule etched in to his brain. Jake, Leah, Jared and Seth were still seated in the living room. He walked in and silently collapsed on the couch as far away from Jake as he could reach.

"Sky okay?" he asked anyway.

"Yeah," Paul said dryly.

"She's pretty," Leah commented, never taking her eyes from the television screen.

"You think so?" Paul sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin.

"Don't act like you didn't notice," Leah rolled her eyes.

Paul shrugged.

"So how do you feel?" Seth craned his neck around to look at Paul from his place in his recliner.

"Fine," he said dryly.

"Just fine?" Jake questioned.

"Fine," Paul repeated, "So can you leave me the hell alone about it?" his voice rose.

Paul closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He needed to work on his anger. He had an imprint now and he would be damned if he was the next Sam. He appreciated and respected the guy, but he couldn't live with himself if he did to Sky what Sam had done to Emily. Paul took another deep breath.

"You okay?" Seth checked.

"Fine," he said for what felt like the hundredth time, "I just don't see how this is fuckin' fair!" he sat up, "The chief," he motioned to Jake, "has wanted an imprint since he found out they existed. Why am I the one with the damn problem?" he sat back against the couch and crossed his arms over his chest.

Seth turned his head back to look at the T.V. He was not getting involved. Leah and Jake both looked at Paul as he shook one of his legs.

"Imprinting isn't a curse," Jake said first.

"And you seem like you like her," Leah looked back to the T.V.

"Obviously," Seth chuckled, "We all thought you were going to rip a hole in the couch when she said she couldn't see."

"You were less volatile around her," Leah acknowledged.

"Because I moved my head an inch?" Paul rolled his eyes.

"It's the principle," Leah offered, "If Jake here had asked you to move your head you probably would have shifted in our living room."

Paul thought about that.

"I-" Paul took a breath, "I don't want to do to Sky what Sam did to Emily," he blurted.

Leah cringed. Jake nodded.

"That's understandable."

"I don't remember when we got on this sort of emotional level," Paul turned towards Jake.

Jake sighed and stood up, stretching.

"We've been telling you to get help with your anger issues for a year now. This girl doesn't even tell you anything and you're going to try," Jake shrugged, "I'm just saying, this is working out in your favor already," Jake nodded towards Leah and walked towards the kitchen, hitting Seth's foot off of the recliner on the way.

Paul bit his bottom lip and mentally cursed.

"Jake!" Paul called his name before he could walk out completely.

"Yeah?" he turned around.

"I need to use your garage," Paul fixed his gaze on the T.V, "Sky is coming over tomorrow for me to change her oil."

Jake nodded once before heading out.

Paul could feel Leah's eyes on him. He refused to turn and look at her. He just was not going to do it.

"What?" he asked anyway.

"Nothing," Leah said dryly.

"Okay."

"Okay," she repeated.

Paul rolled his eyes. Leah scoffed.


	6. Chapter 6

` Paul was up with the sun the next morning. He had the first patrol and he had exchanged with someone else so that he could get two done back to back and free up the rest of his day. He showered, washed his hair thoroughly and threw on some gray sweatpants as he walked around his house picking up stray clothes that he'd thrown around. He, Paul Lahote, cleaned. His father wasn't home. He never was. He traveled more than anyone else Paul knew, but Paul wasn't necessarily upset about that. He enjoyed it actually. It gave him freedom. He had his run of the house. He didn't have someone constantly breathing down his neck. He was free to do what he wanted and go where he wanted and he loved the independence.

Paul had thrown the last of his clothes in to his hamper and was sweeping trash out of his back door when Leah walked in through the front, a pair of cut off jean shorts and a plain white spaghetti strapped shirt on.

She crossed her arms across her chest and snickered.

"Wow, Paul. There was a floor under all of your crap the entire time?" she teased.

Paul paused in his work and shot her a look.

"I'm not up for your shit today," he growled.

He went back to sweeping and Leah scoffed.

"Geez. What's your problem?"

Paul paused and he took a breath.

"I," he looked out of his back door and then back at Leah, "I don't know."

Leah reached around Paul and grabbed the broom from his hand, yanking it absolutely harder than necessary.

"You sweep like a girl," she snapped.

She took up the sweeping for him and Paul nodded once before looking around the small area that was his living room and kitchen. He glanced at the dishes in the sink. He probably should have washed them. He made his way over and turned the water in the sink on.

Leah looked up and at him, before shaking her head and focusing more on the task at hand. When she finished Paul was opening and closing cabinets as the water continued to run. She slammed his back door shut and stood his broom against the wall.

"What did imprinting feel like?" Leah asked quietly.

Paul paused in his rummaging and slammed the cabinet shut.

"You've seen it," he shrugged, "In Embry and Jared's head," he refused to say Sam.

"But I want to hear it, Paul. I want to hear it from you."

"Why?" he rolled his eyes and walked over to the sink, cutting the water off, "No dish washing detergent," he grumbled.

"Please," Leah took a deep breath, "I won't give you shit for imprinting," she offered.

Paul took a deep breath and he scratched the back of his head.

"If I tell you this you have to lock it away," he shot her a look, "I mean it, Leah. I don't want the entire pack thinking I'm soft."

"Okay," she shrugged, "Talk."

Paul made his way to the small wooden table that sat in a corner of his kitchen. He collapsed in to it and stretched his legs out in front of him. He threw an arm over the back of his chair as Leah made her way over and sat across from him. She put her elbows on the table and propped her face up on her hands as she looked around Paul's place. She could tell that he'd cleaned. She was a little shocked and she felt a little stupid for being surprised.

"I felt like I couldn't breathe," Paul said, tapping his fingers on the table and looking off at a blank wall, "When our eyes met for the first time it was like electricity just honed in on us and it freaked me the hell out," he admitted, "I thought it was weird, but this- this was otherworldly. She makes me uncomfortable," Paul admitted, "and then last night I walked her to her front door and she fucking looked like walking sunlight. I saw this girl once," he scoffed, "and it seemed like everything else around me just sort of faded a little bit," he bit one of his nails and shrugged, "I never thought that I would imprint," he sat forward, resting his hand on his knees, "I've been shifting for 3 years and it hadn't happened yet," he took a deep breath, "With me not being able to leave La Push I figured I wouldn't be coming in to contact with any new people. I assumed it just would never happen… and then it did," he sat up and shook his head.

"Wow," Leah sighed, "Wow," she repeated, "Are you…" she let her words drift in to silence and Paul hopped to his feet.

Leah paused and she watched Paul cross his small kitchen and living room before yanking his door open. She jumped to his feet and followed after him. She paused.

"Shit, Paul," she looked at the small car driving up to his house.

"Shit." He repeated.

Paul turned his head to the side and watched Sky's truck come in to view. He had told her that she could come whenever she was ready. He raised his hand for her to see him even though his eyes were still on the little gray car in front of her.

"Did Jake?" Paul's gaze shifted to Sky.

"Nope," Leah hit him on the back, "Did you ever call and tell-"

"No."

"Good luck," Leah shook her head.

"Don't you dare fucking leave," he growled.

Leah rolled her eyes as Paul jumped off of his front porch. He weighed his options. It made sense to walk to the car. It was closer. But, then he would have to face reality. He looked at Leah.

"Imprint," she didn't need to be asked the question.

Paul offered a small wave to the driver of the car as they parked but then started towards Sky's truck, where she was already climbing out, parked further towards the dirt road than his house. He took her in. Sunlight. That was what he'd told Leah she looked like… and God, had he been right. She looked like everything good in the world, wearing a pair of black athletic shorts and a white t-shirt that said "If you wanted a soft serve you should have gone to Dairy Queen" above a large picture of a volleyball. Her hair was down and her face was bare of make-up letting her freckles be completely visible. Paul licked his lips.

Sky repeated the gesture.

She took him in. He was tall, bare of shoes and a shirt, but wearing a pair of sweatpants that fell just a little off of his hips. She took now to take him in fully. His hair looked shaggy and unbrushed. He had pretty, brown eyes though and he walked in a way that kind of made Sky attracted to him, even when she tried to remind herself that it was the crazy weird Quileute stuff going on. She killed the idea almost as soon as she thought it. She would have thought that he was handsome even if she wasn't his imprint. The man was gorgeous, in a handsome, bad boy, look from a distance sort of way.

"Sky," he said her name as he closed in on her.

"Lahote," she countered.

He looked down at her and snickered, showing off those perfectly white teeth before he quickly pulled her in and hugged her to him. Sky stiffened and Paul put his face down in to her hair for a few seconds before standing back up and releasing her.

"I had to get my fix," he shrugged, "You're like a bad habit or something."

"I get it," Sky smiled smally, "Contact."

"You feel it, right?" he asked seriously.

She nodded and Paul let out a gust of air at the realization.

Sky looked around at the area that obviously belonged to Paul. He had a nice truck of his own parked over to the far side of his property. His house looked small. Cozy was a better word. A small armchair sat on the porch to the right of his front door. She looked around and noticed Leah talking to another girl a little way in front of them. Paul threw an arm over Sky's shoulders.

She wasn't sure if he still felt that pang for contact or if he was just being Paul. She had pegged him as someone flirtatious and a bit of a man hoe. He just gave off that sort of vibe and she refused to believe that she was wrong. She let Paul lead her to the two ladies.

"This is Sky," he pulled her in and against him, "Sky this is Leah Clearwater and," he paused and scratched the back of his neck with his free hand, "Rachel Black."


	7. Chapter 7

Rachel had dark brown hair and big doe like eyes that made Sky just want to hug her. Jacob's sister was a nice height and she had a sharp voice and way of speaking that drew attention to her. Sky thought that she looked friendly… until she saw the way Rachel looked at Paul and instantly decided that she didn't like her anymore.

The two of them were each on a side of Paul, all three of their heads leaned forward to see the contents of Sky's hood. She was slightly irritated that she couldn't see properly and slightly irritated with the fact that she was so aware of Rachel and the way Paul's arm kept brushing against hers. She was very aware of the way Leah was standing off to the side, her hands in her back pockets as she watched the mess that Sky knew they had to look like.

A cigarette. For the second day in the row Schyleur Collins found herself wanting to use a coping mechanism that she typically used maybe a total of 8 times in a whole year. She stood up straight and took a step back. Paul gravitated in to her newly vacant space and Rachel seemed to just scoot with him.

Sky looked around Jake's shop. It was bigger than she thought it would be, but it was still crowded. It fit one vehicle comfortably, but he had somehow wedged a bike in to a corner. He had tools on practically every surface and he had a small armchair that could easily be older than him in a corner, near the door that led in to the Black home. Sky made her way around his garage, looking at the different tools he had hung up and the two other toolboxes lying around. Jake was serious at his craft. That much she was sure about.

Sky wedged her hands in her pockets as she looked out of Jake's garage. The reservation was quiet. It was quiet and it felt… home-y for lack of better terminology. And it was beautiful. It was beautiful in a way that she had never seen. It was beautiful in the fact that it was simple and it was history. It was where Billy and Uncle Charlie had hung out long before they'd met their wives. Forks and La Push were history for her family. Not much had changed around La Push. Just ages. But, the homes and the land and the feeling- that feeling that coursed through her was timeless. Timeless and perfect.

Sky licked her lips and turned back around to find Paul starring at her, one of his hands on something beneath her hood.

"What?" she put some of her hair behind her ears.

"You okay?" he checked.

"Fine."

He nodded at that and then ducked his head back beneath her hood. He was a boy. Sky understood that. But, he was not clueless.

She walked back towards her truck and yanked her door open, wiping her hands on her t-shirt before climbing in halfway to retrieve her cell phone.

Paul was very aware of what Sky was doing. He didn't even have to try. He knew that she was slightly irritated. He appreciated the way she kept herself together. He wasn't sure he would be able to do the same if they had reversed roles.

He and Rachel hadn't dated necessarily. They'd had sex… more than once and yeah, it drove Jake crazy, but Rachel was an adult and she did what she wanted. Paul had liked her… by his standards anyway. They weren't spending nights together or picking out wedding China by any means, but she wasn't one of the many girls that he slept with and never called again.

They'd talked about more. It had come up. Rachel had brought it up. Paul had diverted it a little. She had gone back to college. He had continued to do what he wanted and sleep with who he wanted. He was sure Rachel talked to someone where she attended school… but the two of them were… comfortable. They didn't have to define exactly what they had going on. They didn't have to label it. When Rachel was in town it was all about Rachel. He wasn't out at the bar or having sex with different girls during the time when she was home. He wasn't dating her, but he wasn't out trying to screw anyone else. It was progress. Or at least he was sure Rachel thought so.

He hadn't gotten around to telling her he had imprinted. Hell, he barely had time to take it in himself. Rachel wasn't on his mind. He had far bigger issues. He hadn't even paid attention to the fact that she would be out of school for her semester break. It was December. Christmas. Christmas was at the end of the month. Paul resisted the urge to curse aloud.

Sky was walking away, her phone in hand as he continued to work away. Her truck was being drained of oil so that he could start her off completely fresh and in the meantime, he wanted to check everything else on her truck. It was already in the garage and it just made logical sense to take care of everything in one visit.

He paused for a second when he heard Sky on the phone with someone. Leah said that she was heading in the house for the bathroom or water or something. Paul hadn't really heard her. His hearing was concentrated on the conversation Sky was having, her voice a soft flowing one that he was sure she didn't use on him. She called the person on the other end "sweetheart" and laughed at something they said.

He took a deep breath as he stood back to his full height. Frustrated and curious. That was what he was. Rachel looked back over her shoulder before standing up straight. Paul really took her in for the first time since he'd seen her. Her black hair was a little shorter, like she'd cut it. She had on some jeans and a plain black t-shirt. She wiped her hands on a towel that she'd shoved in her back pocket upon entering her brother's garage.

"Paul Lahote has a girlfriend," she smirked and shook her head as if amazed.

Paul leaned against Sky's truck but didn't say anything. He studied her. He let his gaze wash over her. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I never thought I'd see the day," she offered him a smile before shoving the towel back in to her back pocket and mirroring Paul, leaning against the truck and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah," he searched his mind for something else to say, anything at all in honesty.

"Jesus, Paul," Rachel elbowed him, "Tell me about her."

"Like?"

"I don't know," Rachel shrugged, "How'd you guys meet?"

"She's Isabella's cousins."

"Isabella?" Rachel turned her side to Paul to face him, "Like Charlie Swan?"

"Charlie's her uncle," Paul said simply.

"So my dad knows her parents?"

"Her mother," Paul assumed, "She's Charlie's sister."

"Hm," Rachel shook her head at that, "I don't think she likes me."

"Probably not," Paul brushed it off, "We did have sex," he said matter-of-factly.

Rachel laughed at that, a short chuckle.

"But she's special."

"You think so?" he turned his head to the side and took her in.

"You're claiming her as a girlfriend," Rachel said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "You never," she said the word slowly and deliberately, "never," she repeated, "claim a girl."

"Right," Paul rolled his eyes, "God, Rachel, I'm not a dog that humps every leg I'm shown. I have standards."

"You do," she admitted, "those standards are normally old enough to consent, breasts, and long legs."

Paul shot Rachel a look that caused her to smirk.

"Shut it," he grumbled.

"I'm happy for you, kid," she said softly, focusing her eyes straight ahead.

"Yeah," Paul turned his gaze to the door where Leah had vanished.

"What changed?" her voice was quiet, soft, a whisper, a vast contrast to the way she normally spoke.

"What?"

"You were anti-relationship and love and monogamy," she scoffed, "You never wanted to date seriously," she paused and pushed her black hair back, "What happened?"

"Life," Paul said simply, pushing himself off of Sky's truck.

He wasn't going to talk about this with Rachel. She didn't know about the pack. And he wasn't going to tell anyone about some love at first sight crap that had happened. It would be stupid and pointless. Talking about Sky with Rachel was just that- stupid and pointless.

Rachel scoffed at that and pushed herself off of the truck as if mirroring him.

"Be good to her if you care about her, Paul," she said simply.

Rachel hit him on the back softly, letting her hand rest there just a little bit too long before heading towards the door that would lead her in to the house that belonged to her family.

Paul changed Sky's oil and then went in search of her. He didn't actually search for her. He was concerningly aware of where she was at all times. He found her circling Jake's house as she continued to talk on her cellphone a good, 25 minutes after the initial conversation had begun.

He stood and watched as she paced, her eyes on her feet as she did so. She seemed to be in her own little world. She was talking and radiating happiness and Paul decided that he liked this Sky significantly. He also noticed that like him, his imprint was aware of his movement. Her head snapped up and turned to his direction and she mumbled her goodbyes before closing in on him.

"Done," he said simply.

Sky nodded at that and then glanced behind him. Paul didn't bother turning around. He looked down and at Sky who still had her phone clasped in both of her hands. He knew that it was Rachel when he heard her car start.

They stood in silence. Sky watched Rachel back out and head towards the road. Paul watched Sky.

"She's pretty," Sky said simply.

She offered Paul a small smile and then looked back down at her phone as she side stepped around him. Paul grabbed her by her wrist partially out of sheer reflex.

"We had sex," he said lightly, he and Sky still beside each other, facing opposite directions, "We never dated. There was no 'we'. Being a 'we' with a girl for me was never a thing. And it's done now. That's it."

They stood in silence again, Paul's hand still wrapped around her wrist.

"I didn't ask you to explain yourself to me," she said softly.

"I know."

Paul scoffed. She was an awkward one. He let her wrist go and both of their arms fell to their sides. Paul spun around. He threw an arm over Sky's shoulders and he started to lead her back towards Jake's garage.

They were silent a lot. Paul liked the silence. He didn't deal well with talking. He didn't like it. He didn't like expressing himself. Sky seemed to appreciate the sentiment. They walked in silence around Jake's house without any form of agreement and when Paul sat on the second step, Sky sat on the top one.

"My brother is expecting his first child to his fiancé," Sky blurted.

"Hm," Paul leaned back on his elbow, his hair brushing against Sky's legs, "How old is he anyway?"

"24," Sky leaned back on her own elbows.

"Engaged and expecting," Paul whistled, "Wow."

"24 isn't that young," Sky felt the need to defend her brother's choices, as if it for some odd reason mattered what Paul thought of Jack, "They're both in the military. They're financial stable and they're in love."

"Would you do it?" he countered.

"Do what?" Sky leaned forward, setting her hands on her knees.

"Get married at 24," he clarified, "and start an entire family."

"I don't know," Sky admitted, "Why? Are you offering, Lahote?"

Paul scoffed and opened his mouth only for his words to die on his lips. A howl tore through the otherwise silent reservation and Paul was to his feet quickly. He grabbed Sky by her hands and pulled her quickly off of the stairs, just in time for Leah to bound out of the back, pulling her shirt off as she went. She threw it to the side.

"Stay inside Jake's house," Paul pushed Sky's hair back.

She nodded as she watched Leah push her pants down her hips and abandon her shoes quickly.

"Was that-,"

"Seth," Paul interrupted Leah as he took off full speed towards the tree lines.

Leah cast a quick glance at Sky before running off after him.

Sky stood frozen for a few seconds. They had just run off in to the line of trees and vanished. She wondered if they were shifting in to those giant dogs. Wolves. She corrected herself. They were wolves. She took a calming breath. She was fine. Everything was fine.

She collected the clothes that belonged to Leah and then made her way in to the Black house through the back door. The house was empty. It was quiet, but not silent. She found Billy Black sitting at the kitchen table in his wheel chair.

"Paul told me to stay here," she blurted and then regretted it.

Of course she had taken his heed, but Paul didn't have the authority to welcome her in to someone else's home. Billy simply smiled at her and gestured to a chair at his table. She made her way over and silently sat down, setting Leah's clothes in her lap.

"Would you like something to drink?" Billy looked down at his mug in front of him.

"No, thank you."

"Okay," he shrugged and took a deep breath, "Violet Swan," Billy said the name with a chuckle as he picked his mug up.

"Were you close with my mom, Mr. Black?"

"Call me Billy," he corrected her firstly, "but we were…" he paused to choose his next word carefully, "aware of each other."

"Aware of each other?" Sky repeated.

"Yes," Billy offered her a small smile, "I was close with your uncle. We spent a lot of time together. It was hard to not notice that there was a girl living with him. Especially when you're a teenage boy."

Sky smiled.

"What was she like?"

"She was a strong girl," Billy took a drink out of his mug and then set it down and ran his pointer finger over the rim of it, "She had an unbendable will. She had sass to spare. Your mother was quite a fighter."

"I can actually see that," Sky admitted.

"She fought girls and boys alike," Billy chuckled "Harry and I were always mediating for her. Charlie wasn't one for confrontation," he sighed, "She was beautiful. Your mother," he clarified, "and smart. She loved being on the reservation."

"So why did she leave?"

"Well," Sam shrugged, "No matter how much of an athlete your mother was she couldn't outrun the memories."

"Memories," Sky pressed, "of what?"

Billy sat silently for a little.

"Teenage love," he smiled at her and then set each of his hands on one of his wheelchair wheels, "You should have some tea," he added as an afterthought.

He wheeled away from the table and towards his stove. Sky resisted her first thought which was to jump up and rush to his side to help him. She knew that he was a grown man and that he had been mostly taking care of himself. She didn't need to coddle him. He would probably be horrified. She took a deep breath as she leaned forward on to the table.

Billy rolled back to the table and set a mug of what looked like green tea in front of her. She picked it up and took a small sip. They sat in silence as they drank.

"I know about the shifting," Billy said finally setting his mug back down.

Sky's head lifted and she looked at him silently. He shrugged.

"What?" she held her mug in both hands.

"If you wanted to talk," he offered, "about Paul," he added.

"About Paul?"

"He imprinted on you," Billy said as if it was common knowledge.

"Yup."

"And how do you feel? About the imprint?"

"Okay," Sky said simply, "He's nice."

Billy scoffed at that.

"Paul Lahote," he shook his head, "Nice," he chuckled, "That isn't usually the word associated with him."

"I can tell," Sky smiled at the older man, "by the way the pack acts around him."

"You'll be good for him," Billy picked his mug up again.

"Maybe," Sky picked hers up as well.

The two of them sat in silence. She wasn't sure how long they did so. She knew that the silence gave her mind time to roam and when the front door flew open she hopped to her feet almost instantly, causing her tea to slosh around the mug, little splatters littering the table.

Sky was both relieved and disappointed to see her cousin Bella in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Bella," Billy greeted.

"Hey there, Charlie," Bella said between breaths.

She was breathing hard as if she had run to the house.

"What are you doing here?" Sky closed in on her cousin.

"Edward brought me to the line and I ran here from there. You weren't answering your phone and his family had a…" Bella paused, "safety issues," she finished lamely, "and I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"The line?" Sky raised an eyebrow.

She knew when Bella was bullshitting her and this was one of those times. Bella was not a good liar. She had never been a good liar. Ever.

"Edward and his family aren't allowed on to the reservation," Bella said and then she turned to face Billy and walked around her cousin to go hug the older man, "It's nice to see you again," she continued on as if she hadn't just told her cousin that the entire reservation had a restraining order on every single member of her boyfriend's family.

Sky took notice.

She walked over to the sink and got a towel to wipe at the tea she'd gotten on the table as Bella and Billy made idle and polite conversation. Bella asked how Billy was doing. Billy asked about Charlie. They gave each other a knowing look when they thought Sky wasn't paying attention.

Schyleur wasn't sure how long it was that the three of them sat at the table together. The time seemed to move at a pace slower than any she'd ever been faced with. The seconds felt like minutes and the minutes like hours. She was almost possible that Paul had run off a simple 15 to 20 minutes earlier but she felt as if he had been gone for days. She was worried. She had the sinking feeling in her stomach she always had when she watched politics and thought about the possibility that her family could be deployed.

Sky drank two cups of tea and was on her third when she heard what sounded like yelling. She and Bella both looked at Billy before hopping to their feet.

"Thank you for having me, Billy," Sky left her mug on the table before heading towards the back door.

"Anytime," he called after her.

She knew that Bella was on her heels, wanting to know the outcome of whatever the issue was.

When Sky walked out of the back door, the wind was blowing. She pushed her hair back and she squinted. She saw Embry, Jared and Sam closest to her. She looked around again. It was Paul's voice booming louder than the others. She should have known. Paul was off to one side with Leah and Seth. The other side was occupied by Quil, Jake, Collin and Brady. They all looked like they were not in the best of moods and Sky was okay with that. She looked Paul up and down. He was walking funny and strangely ahead of Seth and Leah. To say Leah look livid was an understatement.

He looked over his imprint. She was fine. She looked fine, just a little concerned. His arm was hurting but it wasn't anything he hadn't dealt with before. He closed in on the two girls, giving Bella all of his attention.

"Tell your little friend to stay on his fucking side of the treaty line," he barked at her.

Sky initially jumped.

"I- what?" Bella looked around at the faces around her.

"Emmett," Jake said quietly, "He crossed the line and he and Paul got in to it."

"Go home," Sam spoke to the pups.

Collin and Brady looked too pleased to get away from a pissed off Paul, who took a step back remembering that his temper did, in fact, flare. Leah and Jared collectively closed in on him. Seth, Quil and Embry closed in on one side of the group a little farther away to watch things unravel while Jake and Sam were on the other. Leah grabbed Paul's shoulder and seemingly popped it in to place. Paul growled through clenched teeth.

"The next time he crosses that line I'm going to rip his fucking head off of his shoulders," he ground out, "The fucking leech got away because of him!" Paul glowered.

"Paul," Jared said his name quietly.

Paul shot him a look that caused him to raise his hands in surrender and take a step back.

"I can't control what Emmett does!" Bella argued, "And I'm sure it was an accident."

"Accidents cost lives, Bella," Leah shot her a look.

"We don't need any fucking help from them!" Paul added.

"The treaty's been in play for years," Jake added.

"And they've never crossed it on purpose," Seth added.

"They haven't been around long enough to!" Leah snapped.

"The reservation has been fine for generations!" Paul snarled "Until she," he spat the word, "had to show up."

He was furious. His hands were shaking and Schyleur was surprised by the amount of anger he could exhibit. She subconsciously stepped in front of her younger cousin.

"You need to chill the fuck out," Sky stood up taller.

She was still shorter by him, but stepping down was not something that she was taught. And imprint or not she would stand with family above some guy she barely knew.

Quil, Embry and Seth all exchanged glances. Sam and Jake took a few subtle steps towards them. Leah was visibly surprised by the outburst.

"You're on her," he pointed at Bella, "side."

"I'm always on her side!" Sky snapped, "What is your problem?"

"My problem?" he clenched his fist, "My problem?!" he repeated, "My problem is your fucking idiot cousin!" he yelled, "She's the reason we're even in this stupid mess!"

"This stupid mess?!" Sky's voice raised slightly.

She felt Bella's hand on her shoulder.

"Everyone would have normal lives if it weren't for Bella's stupid fucking leeching friends and her blood sucking boyfriend! Instead, Brady and Collin will never have a childhood and everyone else keep getting forced in to these stupid," he shouted the word, "relationships that make no fucking sense!" Paul paused when Sky looked at her cousin over her shoulder, "God," he scoffed, "You didn't even tell Sky that you're the reason she's been pulled in to all of this stupid supernatural shit," he rolled his eyes and took another step away from them, clenching and unclenching his fist, "You're a piece of work," his veins in his arms were very easily seen.

Paul took a few quick shallow breaths and Leah put a hand on his shoulder as Jared, Sam and Jake closed in on him.

"I'm fine," he snapped.

Sky took a quick shallow breath and Paul turned away from her and Bella. He cast a quick look at her over his shoulder and then he sprinted off and back in to the trees.

"Jared, Leah, Seth and Quil," Sam didn't look away from the two girls on Billy's steps, "Go in after our boy. Don't make contact and if he's just running it off and not being an idiot, leave him alone. He'll return when he's ready."

Sky took a quick breath. She wasn't frozen in place anymore. Her chest was slightly heaving and quick warm tears were falling from her cheeks. Sky took the two steps down and then she made a quick speed walk to her truck. She climbed in and yanked her glove compartment open. She hit her fist on her steering wheel until she couldn't physically find it in her anymore, and then she laid her forehead on the same place she'd hit and she cried.

She had no cigarettes to smoke.


	8. Chapter 8

Sky waited. She pulled herself together in the car and then she and Bella drove home and they cooked in an eerie silence and then Sky made her way up in to the crowded guest room while Bella made her way to her bedroom. Sky was not the biggest fan of cleaning, but it helped thing sometimes, to just keep moving. So she cleaned. She boxed things properly and folded things and made stacks of what looked salvageable and what looked like trash. She cleaned and she listened to music with slow, soft melodies that she needed. She dusted and she made progress and she tried not to think, but that was impossible, to not think. It was impossible to simply not think of Paul. She collapsed on her butt on the edge of the bed and she played with her fingers.

He was… volatile. He had gotten angry, angrier than any other man she had ever set eyes on and that was saying a lot when she had men like her father and brother that got angry enough for their faces to match their hair.

She wasn't sure how Paul functioned. He had been nice to her. He had given a few people looks, but she didn't think that he was as bad as everyone else acted like he was.

She had been wrong. She had been wrong and she knew nothing of what to do with that information or realization.

X

When Bella pushed her way in to the guest room, Sky was laying backwards on a newly cleaned bed, several boxes packed neatly in to a corner, a walkway from the door to the bed and from the bed to the closet cleared. Bella was impressed.

She looked at her cousin who rolled on to her side and propped her head up on her hand.

"Hey," she partially whispered, a soft smile tugging on her lips.

"Are you okay?" Bella leaned against the door frame.

"Yeah," Sky rolled back on to her back, "Thank you for checking on me."

Schyleur thought about it. She thought about the entire blow out and she thought about the way Paul had acted. She had replayed the entire thing in her head all day. She had heard him yelling at her. She had seen him- his face contorted in anger, his hands clenched in to his fist. Sky sat up and turned to the side, kicking her legs off of the side of the bed.

"Bella," she looked at her younger cousin, from her feet and then up, "Why was Paul so angry with you?"

Bella shrugged and averted her eyes, a simple gesture, but one that told Sky all that she needed to know.

"Come in," Sky watched Bella take a few steps towards her, "and close the door."

Bella pushed the door shut without turning around.

"What's wrong with you and Paul?" Sky asked carefully

"He…" Bella paused to think and collect her thoughts, "He doesn't like the way Jake and I function," she fidgeted with her fingers, "He thinks I lead Jake on."

"There's something else," Sky moved over and gave the place beside her a pat.

"Paul doesn't like Edward," Bella admitted.

Sky nodded at that. She could understand it. She didn't like Edward either. He gave her all of the wrong vibes. He made her unformattable. He made her jumpy and he was… strange. He looked… different… and he was blistering cold.

"Why doesn't Paul like Edward?" Sky pretended to ignore the fact that Bella had not taken the seat beside her.

Bella shrugged and Sky starred at her. Bella was a horrible liar. She was horrible at acting aloof. She was horrible at not being transparent and Sky wasn't sure why her cousin even continued to try.

"Bella!" Sky's voice hitched a little, "I threw myself in front of a very angry wolf person for you!" she reminded, "And you're honestly," Sky paused and took a deep breath, "Are you honestly not going to tell me why Paul feels the way that he does? About you taking Collin and Brady's childhood? And about imprinting? And about… everything?"

Bella looked around the room and then at her cousin.

"I- Edward can help clarify some things for you," she said finally, "if you want."

Sky thought about that. She didn't like Edward, not at all, but she had never backed down from fear before. She wasn't sure if that made her brave or stupid.

"Okay," Sky said and nodded her head, "I'll meet Edward formally… once"


	9. Chapter 9

Schyleur couldn't get over the way Edward made her feel. He creeped her out. He made her skin crawl and she avoided the dinner at his house. She knew that Bella knew what she was doing, but she also knew Bella would never pry.

She spent her days reading and listening to music. She hated sitting around alone. She had graduated a semester early. Her cousin had an entire semester left of school before they could spend days together. She hated idle time. Idle time made her think about Paul and thinking about Paul made her want to answer his calls. He had called her a total of 5 times in the past 5 days; once a day and it was the hardest, most stressful part of her day to watch her cell phone ring. It made her cringe. It made her mouth feel dry and she tortured herself mentally about ignoring his call for the remainder of the day only to wake up the following day and be mostly okay… until he called again.

She wasn't the type of girl to sit around and cry about a guy and she wasn't angry at Paul per se, but she wasn't thrilled with him either. She would talk to him, but she wasn't ready yet. She wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't sure where they were going to go. She liked Paul. She did. But, she loved Bella.

Schyleur refused to sit around and think about being an imprint and oversized dogs and Paul and Edward. She absolutely refused. So, she looked for a job and because her uncle was apparently this sweet, kind man who always put the good of Forks first, she was hired as a waitress relatively quickly and she enjoyed it. She was a friendly person and she didn't mind standing for hours. She was an athlete. She had perseverance. She loved the little diner where she worked. It was a little drive out of Forks, but it was nice and it gave her something to do during the day. It was exactly what Sky needed.

Or at least, that was what she thought… until the pack walked in.

X

Paul was aware of Schyleur's every move. He didn't try to be. It was automatic. He felt the little pang that she felt when he called her and she didn't answer her calls. He had only seen her two days in a row and he already missed her face. He wasn't too upset about the fact that Sky was mad at him. He was just worried about her living under the same roof with someone who openly had vampires in her home. That was what he told himself anyway when he sat beneath her bedroom window.

He couldn't handle Sky being mad at him. He tried. He tried to ignore it. He had tried to forget she even existed. He couldn't. She had never been inside of his home, but he still seemed to see her everywhere. He found himself missing her scent each time he caught a glance of Sam and Emily, Quil and Claire or Jared and Kim. He had gone to the bar and he had drank away some of his anxiety. He had even picked up a few chicks in the 5 days that she hadn't spoken to him. He hadn't been able to go through with it. He would drink with a girl and get her to the hotel and then he would end up kicking her out, not because he couldn't perform, but because he knew he couldn't call Sky and have her finally answer for him to have to tell her that he'd slept with someone else. And even if they weren't together he knew he would feel obligated to tell her. He was a mess. He was pacing all day and working himself to the point of literal exhaustion just to get a few hours of sleep. He was sitting outside of her bedroom at night partially because it was the closest thing to contact he could get and partially because he honestly could not stand the Cullen family. His concentration was suffering. Sam had commented on his patrols being sloppy and his homework grades were a mess. He had never been a scholar, but he couldn't sit still long enough to even read the homework all the way through now.

He couldn't continue living like this.

That was why the second he found out Schyleur was working at a diner, he snagged a few members of the pack and dragged them along to 'run in to' his imprint.

She could ignore his calls, but she would have to talk to him face to face and he was prepared to do whatever it took to get her to cave in. He was persuasive. He knew how to talk to girls. He would be fine. He had to be. Failure was not an option.

X

Schyleur was very aware of Paul the moment he walked in to the diner, standing at his full height, his hair a mess atop his head, a pair of jeans and a plain black shirt on. He was flanked by Jake, Sam and Jared and Paul, ever the most direct, requested to be seated in her section. She resisted the urge to curse.

She snatched up a pen and quickly took in her reflection. Her hair was braided down her back in a horrible attempt at both taming it and attempting to keep it out of her eyes. She sighed as she made her way around the counter, but she forced a smile on her face anyway as she came to a halt in front of their table. Sam and Jared had been forced to sit by the wall while Jake and Paul set closest to her and the aisle.

"Hi," she smiled politely, "I'm Sky and I'll be your server today. Can you get you started with drinks?" she set four menus on the table and looked at Jared who cleared his throat and then picked up a menu.

"Can I have a root beer?" he opened the menu and hid behind it as Sky nodded and looked at the next person. She took their drink orders, spun around on her heels and headed back to the counter. She made sure to still smile and to be the most professional person that she could be. She didn't let her gaze land on Paul and he never looked up to see her. They avoided each other's gaze even when they spoke to each other. Sky focused on her service skills. Paul seemed immensely interested in his menu, his drink, the table, everything except her.

They made it through. Sky smiled and even had a partially witty banter with Jared that caused Jake and Sam to laugh. She got their orders correct with having to write them down and they tipped her before they left.

Sky was partially relieved and partially disappointed when they finally left. She wiped their table down and collected their dishes and then paused when she stood up and Paul looked over his shoulder at her. She hated that. She hated that they looked at each other at the same instances and that she was extremely aware of his every move.

She pushed the thoughts aside. She did what it was she needed to do. She made it through the next three hours of her shift without many mistakes and when she walked out of the diner and to her truck she resisted the urge to scream.

Paul Lahote stood leaned against her driver's seat door, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked her up and down while she closed in on him. He ran a hand through his hair and licked his lips. Sky shoved her hands in her pockets and paused.

They looked at each other in a silence that was eerie, Sky attempting to think of something to say, Paul enjoying the sound of her heartbeat.

In the end it was Sky who broke first.

"Paul," she said his name quietly and he took a step towards her before catching himself, "Are you okay?"

"No," he said instantly.

Sky looked around the parking lot. It was beginning to get dark and the parking lot was quickly emptying.

"We can talk in the truck," she offered.

Paul nodded once and slid away from her door. He waited for her to make her way over and then yanked the door open for her. He waited for her to get situated before closing it and making his way to the passenger side. Schyleur took a few deep breaths before Paul climbed in beside her and then she released her hair from its braid and began to run her fingers through it, just so that she would have something to do with her hands.

Paul looked out of her front glass and Sky followed suit, the both of them looking straight ahead.

"Sam says I should work on my communication skills," Paul said dryly, "And Leah says I should work on my anger issues."

Sky nodded at that.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel like I would cause harm to Isabella," Paul clenched his hands in to fist, "I would never hurt a defenseless human. I just-," he unclenched his hands, "I just have issues dealing with extreme emotions and failure, and I don't understand how she can want to be friends with them!" his voice rose slightly, "I don't understand how she can want to be around them! I don't understand who can just not care about their lives that fu-," Paul paused and he took a deep breath, "I'm going to work on it," he turned his head to look at Sky, "I'm going to work on my anger issues."

"I-" Sky thought about something to say and came up blank, "Thank you," she blurted.

She didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to feel. She was blindsided and dumbfounded.

"What are you thinking?" Paul crossed his arms over his chest and looked forward again.

"I've never seen anyone that angry before," Sky admitted, "And you were- your whole body was vibrating, Paul," she saw him open his mouth, but she couldn't pause, "You scared the hell out of me and I can't live in a constant state of fear of what you may or may not do. I refuse to," she scoffed.

Paul's stomach fell to the bottom of his feet.

"I'm going to work on it," he repeated, "I just need you," he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I just need you to help me work on it."

"I don't know how to…"

"I just need you around, okay? I'll behave," he said quietly, "I'll… try to understand Bella."

Sky looked at Paul and he turned his head to meet her gaze.

"Paul-"

"I mean, I've always had anger issues. They aren't going to vanish over night, but I'm willing to work on it," he sighed, "I-I've got it under control, Schyleur."

Paul looked around and Schyleur instantly got nervous. He looked off towards the forest and then he opened her truck door.

"Answer my calls," he told her, partially a command, partially a plea.

And then, Paul took off towards the forest.


	10. Chapter 10

To have Paul call her a series of 7 times at 4 in the morning made Schyleur feel as if she needed to throw up. She thought that they were okay. She had gotten him to apologize to Bella. He had done so in a short three sentence note, written on a crumpled napkin. It was crumpled because of the way he had held it balled in his fist so tight Sky had, been forced to pry the note out of his hands as he stood in front of Charlie's house, a scowl on his face. The note was simple and to the point; "Isabella, I'm sorry that I hate your boyfriend. I would never hurt you. I am working on my anger issues. -P."

The note had been Paul's apology to the both of them. It had been a written form to Bella and a sign to Sky that he was, indeed, trying to work on his anger and his issues with Isabella. Sky and Paul didn't see each other everyday. They'd seen each other once in the week since he'd sat outside of her place of work and waited for her. He'd told her that patrols had been doubled and he was usually too tired to function when he wasn't on patrol that it made him hard to see her.

The fact that patrols had been doubled raised red flags in Sky's head, but she didn't ask because Paul didn't seem eager to talk about it.

All the same, she jumped awake in bed thinking that something had happened to him. She answered the phone, looking groggily around her room before turning on her bedside lamp.

"I'm coming up," Paul said gruffly.

"Excuse me?"

"Open the window."

"The window?" Sky's voice squeaked.

She looked around her room and then covered her mouth with her hands so that she wouldn't curse when Paul let himself in to her bedroom window without her having to open it. He opened it with one hand and then calmly kicked his long legs through it.

"You should lock your bedroom windows," he walked to her other window and locked it, "You should lock them at all times, Sky," he scolded her as he looked around her room as if looking for another health hazard.

"Did you just?" Sky climbed out of bed and rushed to her window.

She looked outside. She was on the second floor. He had… what had he done? She scoffed, but left her window open in case he needed to make a quick exit.

"Are you okay?" she spun around to face him, her cell phone still in her hand.

Paul stood near her desk, looking at everything that rested there. He was wearing a pair of cut-up jean shorts with no shirt or pair of shoes to speak of. Sky took in his arm piece and he looked up at her.

"Yeah," he said dryly.

"You called me 7 times," Sky walked over to Paul and pulled her book out of his hand, "and it's four in the morning."

"I-," Paul took a breath, "We found a body in the woods and I don't know," he shrugged, "Instincts said to check on you," Paul shook his head as if to clear it and picked up one of Sky's volleyball trophies, "By the time I got my phone out, Jared had already taken off. Sam was able to suppress it. He sent Seth to check on Sue," Paul turned her trophy around in his hand, "I tried to stay in case he needed back up, but then you didn't answer and I had to see you," he shook his head again as he set her trophy back down and looked at her.

He really looked at her.

Sky stood before him, a nightgown that went down to her knees on. Her hair was a frizzy mess and her freckles seemed to be far more than he'd ever seen her with before. He smirked partially.

"You found a body?!" Sky's voice hitched, "And you all thought to call girlfriends and not the police?" Sky looked down and at her phone and Paul snatched her phone out of her hand.

"You can't call the police," he said tightly, "You can't," he repeated, "We don't need them out there. If they get hurt, it's on us."

"Paul, people are dying!"

"Keep your voice down, please," he sighed and looked down at her, "please," he repeated, "I don't need Charlie to wake up and find me, here, in your room, at 4 in the morning with no shirt on," he waited for Sky to nod before continuing, "And this isn't something that the police can help us with. The body was- It was drained of blood."

"Drained… of blood?"

"Yeah," Paul threw her phone on to the bed, "We don't need innocent people put in the paths of these predators."

"I- Paul, how do bodies just get drained of blood?" Sky looked at him… hard… daring him to lie to her.

He motioned to her bed.

"How are you with weird?" he scoffed.

Sky sat on the edge of her bed and looked up at Paul. He took a deep breath and then he walked over to her room door and locked it before walking over and sitting down on her bedroom floor. He looked up at her, his imprint, as she reached for her night stand and grabbed a ponytail holder. She threw her hair up in to a messy bun and Paul opened his mouth and he told her everything.


	11. Chapter 11

Paul watched Schyleur spin in her mirror. He was.. relieved. Yeah, that was what the feeling was. He was relieved that he'd sat Sky down and told her everything. He felt like it had gotten the two of them closer. She seemed to understand his hatred for Edward and she wasn't shoving Isabella down his throat either. They hadn't spent any time together since his long winded story, but they talked through text. If Sky hadn't mentioned that she was going with Bella to the Cullen's he probably wouldn't have made it over at all, but he'd been willing to give Jared whatever he wanted for him to take this shift. He absolutely had to see Schyleur before she went… there.

She had thrown on a long red sweater and a pair of light blue skinny jeans that fit perfectly in to her tan ankle length boots. Her hair was all thrown up in one big messy ball of her curly hair and she hadn't put on any makeup. Paul took a breath. She hadn't put on perfume either he noted. She was bare of jewelry and Paul appreciated how she was attempting to cover as much of her skin as possible.

He doubted it would help.

She spun around and looked at him.

"What?" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"What?" he repeated, looking back down at the magazine in his lap.

"Why are you starring at me?"

Paul shrugged and raised the magazine in front of his face. He heard Sky huff.

"Any last minute advice?" she pushed his feet off of her bed and collapsed on the space they'd occupied.

He threw his magazine on to her end table and he looked at her. He really looked at her. Her freckles seemed to shimmer and he wanted to tell her so much that she was beautiful and that she looked like sunlight and that he didn't care about the treaty. He would stake the first vampire that even looked at her too long. But, he didn't say that. No, not at all.

X

Sky leaned back and she looked at Paul. He was leaned back on her pillows, his arms crossed over his bare chest. He looked her up and down and he scrunched up his nose instantly making her self conscious about the way she smelled. And she lifted an eyebrow.

"Here's some advice," he said dryly, "Don't go."

"That's not even an option," Sky rolled her eyes.

"So you know that they're blood thirsty parasites and you're willingly going to go to their home?"

"They can probably tell me horror stories about you too, wolf boy," she smirked, "but, Bella is seemingly fine and she won't let up about me meeting them and giving everyone an equal chance."

She watched Paul close his eyes and take a deep breath. She was proud of the way he was holding on to his anger. He opened his eyes and he sighed.

"Right."

"Right?" Sky fell backwards on to her bed, "That's all you have to say?"

"That's all I have to say," he smirked back at her and then his face got serious and he tilted his head slightly to the side, "If you need me- If you feel uncomfortable or if they even look at you wrong, just call me okay?."

"Okay," Sky sat up as Paul hopped to his feet. He stiffened and tilted his head to the side again.

"I have to go," he reached in to the back pocket of his cut offs and produced a woven bracelet, "Sam is bitching and I need to take care of my other responsibilities. Besides, Bella is on her way up," he bit his bottom lip in an attempt to not roll his eyes, "but, I'll… see you around?"

"Yeah," Sky stood back up, "I'll let you know how it goes."

Paul turned towards her and he paused.

"Can you- you know… wear this?" he held out the bracelet and looked out of her window, refusing to make eye contact with her.

"Sure," Sky took it out of his hand, "It's very nice. Thank you."

"Yeah," Paul scoffed, "right… Stay out of trouble," he grunted.

And then he yanked Sky in to him and he hugged her tightly before turning around, walking over to her window and jumping out without giving her a chance to respond.

Sky's heart fell and she had to remind herself that he was Paul and he did things like that sometimes without thinking about how crazy that made her. She walked over to the window to watch him run in to the trees anyway- just for her own sanity. She sighed and then she closed her window, without locking it. She knew that Paul hated when she didn't lock her window, but she also knew that a simple lock wouldn't save her life if a vampire ever did want her dead and she also knew that if Paul needed to jump through her window, he most definitely would not want to break it.

She slid the bracelet on to her wrist and then took a deep breath to center herself.

Bella knocked on her room door and Sky walked quickly over to yank it open.

She took in her cousin. Isabella was wearing pair of jeans and a plain black shirt peaked out of the top of her half zipped jacket. She was wearing her favorite black converse and Sky smiled a small, smile at her. She cast another look around her room and then she let Bella lead her down the stairs and out of the front door so that she and Bella could take a nice, long, silent drive to Edward's home.

The Cullen house was a large, graceful house, rectangular and well-proportioned, painted a faded white with a deep porch that wrapped around the front of the house.

Sky stood beside her cousin as Bella knocked on the door and she looked up at the house. It was three stories and it towered over her. It looked old but renovated. The house was an overall nice one and when a rather large man yanked the door open he made Sky's eyes widen to the side of disks. He was tall and definitely burly with short, curly, brown hair. He had to be at least 6'5 and I was slightly panicked that this guy was taller than Paul who stood at 6'4. I took a deep breath as he towered over me, his dimples evident as he smiled with his childlike grin.

"Bella!" he sang her name and picked her up, hugging her to him and lifting her off of her feet, "And this is?" he sat her down and looked Sky up and down.

"My cousin, Sky," Bella walked inside past the giant and Sky trailed in behind her, "This is Emmett," she said as an afterthought.

Sky followed Bella through the house taking in everything possible even when Emmett fell in to stride beside her. She took him in again. He was huge. The way Paul was tall yet well built, Emmett was larger spread out. He wasn't overweight. His height actually helped spread out his weight. He looked like he would be a wrestler, in high school not professional and he was pale like Edward. She noted that immediately.

The southern wall of the Cullen house was almost entirely made of glass, with a view of the Calawah river. The inside was open and bright, with few internal walls, with a wide central staircase to the left and a raised area with a grand piano in the center to the right as well as a dining room. She took all of that in as Bella led her to their living room. There was a wide variety of the newest technology all in an extremely large entertainment center and Sky thought of vicious, blood sucking vampires playing Mario Cart, blood on the floor beneath their television and on their shirts as they laid back on their couch, controllers in their hand.

"I'm going to run up to Edward's room," Bella nudged her, "Do you want to..?"

"I'll be fine," Sky waved her off and made her way to the entertainment center.

They took family photos. The thought was enough to make her laugh… almost. She picked up a picture and simply gazed at it. There were 7 of them. She let her gaze wash over the picture a few times. Beside the fact that they were pale… very pale, they looked normal.

Sky nearly jumped out of her skin when a finger pointed to the top row.

"That's Carlisle and Esme," Emmett said simply and Sky looked at him and the back at the picture, "They saved all of us. That's Alice," he pointed, "and Jasper. You already know Edward and me… sort of," he scoffed.

"And who is she?" Sky pointed to the girl seated on the floor beside Jasper and Emmett took the picture frame from her hand.

"Rosalie," he said simply, "She left to stay with family friends in the mountains," he set the picture back from where she'd gotten it.

"Why?" she started to walk along the wall.

"Why what?" he followed.

"Why did she leave?"

"We've spent many years together," he shrugged, "We decided to branch off."

Sky paused and she spun around and looked up at Emmett.

"Why are you following me?" she checked.

"What kind of host would I be if I let you walk around aimlessly?"

She shrugged and then started to walk along the wall again. She didn't like Edward, but Emmett didn't give her the same creepy vibes. It was weird. Maybe it was because he looked like a little innocent child in the face.

"You look really young," Sky blurted as she paused in front of the floor to ceiling glass.

"I'm 20."

"Your body is 20," Sky said simply, "Your soul is… older."

"You sure just blurt out accusations for a 5'2 girl standing in front of 6'5 vampire," Emmett raised an eyebrow when Sky looked at him and she shrugged.

"You guys never hurt Bella," she put her hand on the handle of their back door, "May I?"

"Yeah, sure."

Schyleur opened the door and filed down the steps with Emmett on her heels.

"Where is everyone else?"

"Bella and Edward," Emmett paused, "They're upstairs talking to Carlisle and Alice is," he paused, "hiding out in her room. Jasper and Esme aren't in right now," he crossed his arms over his chest and they stood facing the trees and the forest.

"Why is Alice hiding in her room?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" he shot back.

"It's the only way to find out useful information."

Emmett chuckled.

"She wants me to get to know you," he said as if that was perfectly normal.

Sky crossed her arms over her chest and she shot Emmett a look that he took without batting an eyelash.

"Why?"

"Because Edward and Bella are in love," he shrugged, "Your family will be joining our family."

"That's bullshit," Sky laughed at the look Emmett gave her, "but okay."

He looked down at Sky and he smiled, his deep dimples taking over his face and Sky couldn't help but to laugh on her own.

"I like your freckles," he said turning his gaze back to the forest.

"What is it with Forks men and freckles?" Sky rolled her eyes but focused her eyes back on the forest as well.

She loved being outside. Despite how open the Cullen floorplan was she swore that she couldn't breathe inside. She needed air.

"Other people comment on them often?" his voice cut through the silence and made the hair on Sky's arm stand up.

"Just Paul," she reached for the small bracelet on her wrist almost instinctively.

"Lahote?"

"Yeah. Do you know him?"

"You know that I don't personally know him," he chuckled, "but I know of him. So, do you spend a lot of time in La Push?"

"Now who's asking a lot of questions?" Sky smirked, but didn't let her question sit in the vibrations around them, "Not really, but I'm Paul's imprint."

"His super secret match made in heaven?"

They both turned to face each other at the same time and they starred at each other in silence.

"Basically," Sky dug her shoe in to the ground.

"Is that why he's trying to brand you?" he gestured to the bracelet on her wrist.

"Excuse me?" she looked down at it and then at Emmett, "He just asked me to wear it," she blustered.

"He asked you to wear that thing that smells like him and his pack here," he looked around, "to a house full of vampires with extremely sensitive noses?" he raised an eyebrow and then chuckled when Sky looked put out, "It isn't a big deal," he added, "I was just messing with you. It does smell horrible, but it isn't a really big object and standing out here in the wind is kind of helping," he sighed, "So do you believe in that stuff?"

"Believe in what?"

"The imprint thing," he clarified.

"There's vampire and werewolves and you're asking me if I believe in something like fate?"

"I'm asking you if you believe in soulmates… but sure, fate too?"

"Don't you?"

"I believe in multiple soulmates. I used to believe in one true love, but now I believe in loving different people in different ways, you know?" Emmett stared at Sky and the intensity of his stare caused her to just stare back, "I feel like it's possible to be in love with more than one person. Everyone loves differently. No relationship is like the next. Different people come in to your life for different reasons. They make you feel different things. They make you stronger in different parts of yourself. I know that you can love someone so completely and totally and still not be able to stop the connection you have with someone else," the wind blew making the trees seemingly dance before them and Sky blinked her eyes as if waking up and turned her head to the trees again as Emmett continued, "You can ignore it, but it's still there: the want, the attraction, the connection," he sighed, "What I'm learning right now though is that it's not selfish to fall in love with certain qualities that only certain people have. No two people can give you the same experience," he paused and then cleared his throat and scratched his head, "Sorry," he shook his head, "Sorry," he repeated, "about the long-winded anecdote."

"It was educational," Sky nodded and Emmett nudged her softly.

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better."

"I wasn't lying," Sky nudged him back and tried to ignore how hard his skin was, "You loved Rosalie and fell in love with someone else," she guessed.

"Not yet," Emmett took a deep breath, "but Alice says it's inevitable."

"And you believe her?"

"You asked me if I believe in fate. The answer is yes."

The back door opened and Sky and Emmett collectively looked back at a short girl in the doorway. Sky recognized her from her photo. Alice. She was beautiful, petite, with large eyes and long, delicate eyebrows. Her hair was short and spikey and she looked at the pair of them with a smile on her face and then floated towards them and hugged Sky who stiffened at the contact. Emmett rolled his eyes dramatically and Alice held Sky at arm's length and gazed over her.

"You're even prettier in person," she said happily and then looked at Emmett, "It's almost time for dinner. The two of you should come inside. It's getting a little nippy don't you think?"

"Nippy?" Sky repeated and Alice laughed and grabbed her hand to begin to lead her back towards the door.

Sky looked over her shoulder to see Emmett filing behind them and she wasn't sure why she'd done that as if he was some protector, as if he made her feel more comfortable.

Alice led her to the dining room and gestured around the room.

"You can sit wherever you'd like, Sky. I don't think Esme and Jasper are going to be joining us tonight," she cleared her throat, "but I'll go help Carlisle get the dishes."

Emmett pulled out a chair and gestured to it.

"You can sit here," he told Sky and she walked over and collapsed in to it obediently.

Emmett pushed her chair in and then excused himself and headed to the kitchen. Sky took the opportunity to text Bella and ask her where the hell she was, just for her to slide down in to the space across from her two minutes later with a small smile on her face.

"Sorry," she mouthed as Edward sat beside her.

"Hello Schyleur," Edward nodded once with a soft smile.

Sky's eyebrows fiddled together without her consent and she cleared her throat.

"Hi Edward."

"How are you?"

"Fine, thank you."

"Enjoying your visit?"

Sky shrugged as the kitchen door opened and Alice filed out with Carlisle and Emmett behind her.

She sat up politely while they laid out dishes and food and glasses and pitchers and then everyone sat, Alice and Emmett putting Sky between the two of them. And then everyone sat. They sat and it was Carlisle who reached for the first bowl and began to spoon food on to his plate.

Sky was not amused. She was sure that they didn't eat. She thought that it was weird that she would eat. She thought about them having the ability to hear her chewing louder than her Three Days Grace CD blaring in to her ears as she ran. She thought about the majority of the table being able to hear her swallow and maybe even her food travel throughout her body. She couldn't eat here with these people. She just couldn't. She spooned an extremely small amount of food on to her plate out of pure need to be respectful and then she sat quietly while they shoved food in to their mouth. She wondered where the hell it went and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she realized everyone was looking at her.

"What?" Sky blinked her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked quietly.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I'm just not really hungry."

Emmett chuckled and Edward and Carlisle both seemed to shoot him looks. Sky hid behind her glass of water and tried to be invisible.

Bella ate.

Sky participated in polite conversation with Carlisle who asked her about her wants and her dreams. He asked her about school and volleyball. He complimented her diction and asked her about her parents and brother. He was polite and Sky would have maybe thought him handsome if her eyes and mind could focus on anything except for the dishes before him, the completely clean plate and the glass that he had never once touched, his hands placed on the table. Sky didn't know if she was thankful that he wasn't faking it the way Alice, Edward and Emmett were or if she was slightly afraid of the way he couldn't even be bothered with basic human needs like eating. But, she continued to talk anyway. She blurted out information he hadn't asked for and her voice trailed through the air, a train of sentences with no spaces between them to fit the thoughts of anyone else. She allowed words to spill out of her mouth like her nervousness out of her body. She talked until her throat went dry because as long as words were going out, food did not have to go in.

And when they deemed dinner was over and Bella had cleared her throat, no one commented on her untouched food or the way she had cleared her throat several times but hadn't taken one drink. She stood up with everyone else and Alice hugged her and Carlisle shook her hand and Emmett walked her to the door as Edward and Bella stood in the dining room talking about something. Sky hadn't noticed that they were speaking until she had already started towards the front door and she was not going to turn around and head back to the dining room so she stood by the door, her hands in her pockets, Emmett Cullen standing in front of her.

"We should hang out," he blurted.

"Excuse me?"

Emmett chuckled and Sky watched.

"I can go on more long tandems about things that you never really wanted to hear about," he offered.

"I," Sky took a deep breath, "You make me uncomfortable," she admitted.

"Things that make you uncomfortable help you grow."

"That works for cliff diving, running through the streets naked and getting tattoos. It doesn't stand for putting yourself in danger."

"You think that I would hurt you?" Emmett exaggerated the question and put his hands to his chest, right over his unbeating heart and feigned passing out.

"I think that I don't know you that well," Sky shot back.

"How are you going to get to know me if you don't want to hang out?"

"Are you always this pushy?"

"Yes," he said instantly.

"I have a," Sky thought about the rest of her sentence, "I have an-"

"Imprint," Emmett finished, "but not a boyfriend. Besides, I hang out with Bella all the time. I'm not trying to get with you, Schyleur."

"Could have fooled me," she retorted.

He smirked and then slid to the side as if on cue when Bella and Edward turned the corner. He pulled the door open and Bella slid her hand in to Sky's. She started out of the door and Edward and Emmett followed after them. They opened their car doors respectively and bid them goodnight.

"I'll see you around so that you can get to know me," Emmett smirked, and winked and slammed the door shut.

He sauntered away before Sky could even say anything. She opened her mouth and then closed it. She turned to look at Bella and Edward who were both looking at her and she opened and closed her mouth again. Edward cleared his throat, placed a kiss to Bella's cheek and then wished Sky a goodnight and Schyleur awkwardly waved at him as Bella began to back out.

Sky looked down at the bracelet on her wrist and she took a deep breath.


End file.
